A review of things you need to know before you go home on Friday; Kiwibank ends sub-4% mortgage special; Westland forecast tops Fonterra's; FMA acts; Strong bidding for govt bonds

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

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Kiwibank has brought the curtain down on its 3.99% "special" two-year home loan rate meaning no banks now have advertised, or carded, rates below 4%. The bank's new "special" rate is 4.15%.

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
There were no changes today.

KICKED OFF
United Global Holdings Ltd, which features in our story here, has been deregistered from the Financial Service Providers Register at the behest of the Financial Markets Authority today. The company appears to be running a forex Ponzi scheme, primarily in Malaysia.

KEY TALKS TOUGH
Prime Minister John Key has upped the ante in the Government's battle with the Auckland Council to free up more land for housing, saying a new National Policy Statement in the next fortnight will direct local government to release land as a matter of law.

PACT PULLS OUT
In a blow to the Government's social housing reform programme, the PACT Group, which been selected as the sole bidder, has pulled out of plans to buy and manage 348 Housing New Zealand Corp homes in Invercargill.

WESTLAND FORECASTS NEW SEASON PAYOUT OF UP TO $4.95 PER KG/MS
Westland Milk Products is forecasting a $4.55 to $4.95 per kilo of milk solids payout for the 2016-17 dairy season, which is up to 70 cents above Fonterra's opening forecast. For the 2015-16 season Westland says its payout will be between $3.80 to $3.90 per kgMS.

NZME, FAIRFAX SEEK COMMERCE COMMISSION APPROVAL FOR TAKEOVER
NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB owner NZME and Dominion Post, Sunday Star-Times and Stuff publisher Fairfax have lodged an application to merge with the Commerce Commission. The deal, if approved, will see NZME acquire Fairfax assets or shares from Australian parent company Fairfax Media Limited for a mix of new shares in NZME and cash. Fairfax Media’s shareholding in the merged entity is expected to be less than 50%.

STRONG BIDDING FOR GOVT BONDS
Tender 572 of NZ$150 mIlIon 2033 government bonds received bids for NZ$701 million, the strongest tender and coverage ratio for this bond to date. The weighted average yield fell to 2.88% from 3.17%.

BUDGET 'CREDIT POSITIVE'
Credit rating agency Moody's says yesterday's NZ Budget was "credit positive." Moody's has an Aaa rating on NZ with a stable outlook. Moody's report is here.

SWAP RATES SUBDUED
Following yesterday's sizeable falls in swap rates the market was more subdued heading into the weekend. NZ swap rates were down 2 basis points at the short end of the curve, and 1 basis point in the 7 and 10-years .The local market is taking its lead from offshore bonds which tracked lower overnight - the lack of local data is probably a contributing factor here. 

NZ DOLLAR, BLIPS OF ACTIVITY
Equity and commodity markets were firmer overnight and this risk on sentiment gave the NZ dollar a nudge higher. The Kiwi dollar re-gained some of its lost ground following yesterday's Fonterra announcement and the Government's no-frills budget. Having said this, the NZ dollar has been quite range bound for most of the day with little blips of activity every now and again. Check our real-time charts here.

You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.