A review of things you need to know before you go home on Friday; Remembrance, dwelling consents strong, sector credit & consumer confidence steady & more

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

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
There were no changes today. The silence from other banks, notably the big four, has been deafening since Kiwibank's aggressive cut to its five-year mortgage rate on Wednesday. Will this last?

TERM DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Heartland Bank increased its one month, three month, five month, six month, nine month and 12 month rates by 10 basis points. Its online bonus saver rate was reduced by 10 basis points. All carded, or advertised, term deposit rates from all financial institutions for terms of less than one year are here, and for terms of one-to-five years are here.

REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS
A poignant and moving National Remembrance Service was held for the victims of the March 15 Christchurch terrorist attacks this morning. Survivor Farid Ahmed, who lost his wife, made a very moving speech. And Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern received a standing ovation from the Hagley Park crowd even before she spoke.

NEW DWELLING CONSENTS AT RECORD HIGH
A record 3098 new dwellings were consented in February, up 28.4% compared to February last year and the highest number for the month of February since records began in 1966, according to Statistics NZ.

SECTOR CREDIT STEADY
The latest Reserve Bank sector credit data shows housing lending up 6.2% in the year to February. Personal consumer lending rose 2.0%, and Housing and personal consumer lending, combined, rose 5.9%. Business lending was up 5.5%, and agriculture lending was up 3.6%. The biggest change from the January year figures was business lending, which grew 5.7% in the January year.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE STEADY
Consumer confidence was steady in March, with the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index up one point to 122, around its historical average. Moves were pretty much rounding errors, ANZ says, with the Current Conditions Index down one point to 125, and the Future Conditions Index up two points to 120.

EX-INVESTMENT BANKER JOINS HEARTLAND BOARD
Heartland Group Holdings says Kate Morrison has been appointed an independent director of its subsidiary Heartland Bank. Morrison, who moved to NZ in 2014, spent 20 years working in investment banking in the UK, prior to that with Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. She's now a consultant advising SMEs and is a director of Christchurch International Airport, the New Zealand Merino Company and FarmRight. Meanwhile, existing Heartland Bank director Graham Kennedy is retiring effective today.

MOST LOCAL SWAP RATES HIGHER 
Three to 10 year rates are up by between two and five basis points. The one year rate is down one basis point, and the two year rate is unchanged at 1.63%

LITTLE MOVEMENT IN NZ DOLLAR 
The Kiwi is little changed over the day versus the greenback at US67.82 cents, AU95.69c, and €60.40c.

BITCOIN 
Bitcoin is up about 6%, according to CoinDesk, at US$4,019.66.

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