Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news of a surprisingly large drop in dairy prices at the overnight Fonterra auction.
Prices fell in US dollars for the eighth straight time, the longest losing streak in the event's history. They were down 4.2% from the previous auction and are down 17% compared with the same time a year ago.
In New Zealand dollars, prices were down less, off 2.5% from the previous event, but down a massive 21% from a year ago. Prices of whole milk powder have proven especially weak, tumbling 29% since the peak, and today they were down 8.5% in US dollars.
Our currency fell on the news, although it was a muted response. More on that later.
In the US, new orders for factory goods rose for a third straight month in April and top automakers reported strong vehicle sales in May, boosting the outlook for second-quarter economic growth.
Both sets of data exceeded expectations.
Across the Atlantic, euro-area inflation slowed more than economists forecast in May, cranking up pressure on the ECB to deploy anti-deflation measures on Friday.
In Australia, in case you missed it late yesterday afternoon, the RBA hold their key policy rate at 2.5% and their Statement basically said nothing interesting, giving no clues to future direction. India also left its key policy rate unchanged in a review yesterday.
Locally, data out overnight showed that vehicle sales were strong again in May, with commercial vehicle sales at their highest level in almost 30 years. SUVs now make up 30% of all vehicle sales, a new high point.
UST 10yr bond yields edged up again today and are now at 2.56%. Oil and gold are basically unchanged. Equities are down marginally in late trade.
On the exchange rate, we start today noticeably lower following the dairy auction. The NZ dollar is currently at 84.2 USc, at 91.0 AUc and the TWI is now at 78.6, its lowest level since early March.
If you want to catch up with all the changes from Friday, we have an update here.
The easiest place to stay up with today's event risk is by following our Economic Calendar here »
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