A review of things you need to know before you go home on Tuesday; fee free education; Fletcher Building; false representation; water review; bond issue; swaps up slightly; NZD holds

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No changes to report today.

TERM DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Westpac has reduced its 1 mnth, 2 mnth and 8 mnth rates and has increased its 9 mnth rate. SBS has reduced its rates from 6 mnths to 3 yrs. NZCU Central has increased its 1 yr, 2 yr and 3 yr rates.

FEES FREE POLICY
The Coalition Government’s first-year Fees Free policy is tracking well, with more than 50,000 people set to receive fees-free tertiary education this year, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Two thirds of the way through the first year of fees-free tertiary education and training, 41,700 students and trainees are receiving tertiary education that is fees-free. This is up 25 per cent from the April figures and as expected, the bulk of the increase is in the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnic (ITP) and Industry Training Organisation sector. The Ministry of Education forecasts that by the end of the calendar year 50,200 people will benefit from fees-free support - 45,600 provider-based students and 4,600 industry trainees. The impact on students’ lives is already clear. Statistics for January to September 2018 show that 31,600 fewer students borrowed to pay tertiary fees. The amount students had to borrow for fees also fell, down $193 million on the same time last year,” Chris Hipkins said.

FLETCHER BUILDING
The chief executive of building and construction giant Fletcher Building is seeing signs of residential construction 'plateauing' in Auckland - while things are looking tough for the company's Australian residential building activities, which are witnessing a sharp slowdown in activity. Fletcher CEO Ross Taylor's comments were in materials prepared for Fletcher's annual meeting of shareholders in Auckland on Tuesday. Taylor said that in New Zealand the company was seeing residential consents run at around 30,000 per annum, "slightly down on previous years, but much as we expected it to look like. Activity levels remain robust, especially here in Auckland, but we think this is now plateauing and there are signs that the Auckland market will pull back slightly."

FALSE REPRESENTATION
The Commission has today filed an appeal against the sentence imposed on Steel and Tube Holdings Limited (Steel & Tube) for false and misleading representations about steel mesh products. Last month Judge Cathcart imposed a $1.885 million fine on Steel & Tube in the Auckland District Court after the company pleaded guilty to 24 charges under the Fair Trading Act. The Commission is appealing on the basis that the Judge erred when sentencing the company, by failing to properly attribute the knowledge of a Steel & Tube manager to the company and by not adequately taking into account the size of Steel & Tube and the potential for it to gain from the conduct.

WATER CONVERSATION
The Government has announced plans to initiate a strategic conversation with Local Government about community well-being and proposals to overhaul the regulation of water. Led by the Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta, the multi-agency Three Waters Review has been investigating the state and performance of New Zealand’s drinking water, wastewater and storm water systems. “Equally important is the need to engage our Councils and Central Government in what we can do collaboratively to enhance wellbeing through regional growth, strengthening the role of our communities and engaging the potential of our young people – essential to that will be the challenge of our waters infrastructure,” said the Hon Nanaia Mahuta.

BOND ISSUE
A minimum NZ$100m 3 year senior unsecured floating rate issue is now launched for The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, incorporated in the Hong Kong SAR, acting through its New Zealand branch, rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA- by S&P. Initial price guidance for the transaction is [77-80]bps over 3mBKBM. The issue is expected to price no later than 21st November 2018. Joint Lead Managers are BNZ, HSBC and WBC.

SWAP RATES SLIGHTLY HIGHER
The 1 yr, 5 yr, 7 yr and 10 yr swap rates are up by +1 bp. The rest are unchanged. The UST 10yr is up to 3.07% today, up +1 bp. The 2-10 curve is still at just under +27 bps. The Aussie Govt 10yr is at 2.70%, up +4 bps today (so far), the China Govt 10yr is unchanged at 3.38%, while the NZ Govt 10 yr is at 2.74% and that is up +3 bps today. The 90 day bank bill rate is unchanged at 2.00%.

BITCOIN DOWN SHARPLY
The bitcoin price is now at US$4,818 and down -12.8%.

NZD HOLDS
The NZD wobbled lower earlier has since recovered and is now just on 68.4 USc. On the cross rates we still at 93.8 AU, and at 59.8 euro cents. That puts the TWI-5 at 72.7.

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