Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Kiwibank met the market today with a two year 'special' of 5.39%. The home loan market is set up for a possible new round of intense competition.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
There were no changes announced today. But we caught up with some HSBC term deposit rate cuts which went down by -5 to -15 bps.
THE END IS NIGH
Prices for dairy products, New Zealand's major export, continued to fall in the December quarter, but favourable movements in other commodity prices softened the blow. Indeed, recent commodity price shifts suggest that the terms of trade will bottom out soon at a very high level says Westpac. Today's terms of trade index came in 'less worse' that markets were expecting.
ALL LOOKING GOOD
In today's Monthly Economic Indicator report, Treasury says the New Zealand economy is expected to record strong growth in the December quarter, as robust employment growth supported household demand. High consumer confidence in early 2015 points to continued strong demand, although the drought may have a negative impact on agricultural output. The inflation outlook remains subdued. Global market sentiment was more positive and concerns about Greece eased at the end of the month, but risks to market stability remain.
NOT ONLY AT CRICKET ...
The largest bank in the region, CBA, is run by a senior management team that is heavy with Kiwis. Today CBA appointed another one, Vittoria Shortt, who started her career at Deloitte NZ and Carter Holt Harvey. She now CBA's Group Executive, Marketing & Strategy, a role CEO and kiwi Ian Narev once held.
GLOBALISATION
New Zealand has its first global, business law firm with DLA Phillips Fox today becoming DLA Piper New Zealand, continuing an evolution toward global integration that began with an Australian alliance in 1987. The change formalises the growing integration of the New Zealand firm with the global business law firm DLA Piper which has 4,200 lawyers in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.
WHOLESALE RATES SOFT
Local wholesale swap rates dipped -1 or -2 bps today. The 90 day bank bill rate also fell -1 bp to 3.62%.
NZ DOLLAR FIRM
Check our real-time charts here. The kiwi dollar has been trading with some strength today ahead of tomorrow's RBA decision. It is now at 75.3 USc, up to to 97 AUc but has fallen back to 96.8 AUc now, and the TWI is up to 79.3.
You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.
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