Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
The local branch of Korean bank Kookmin has cut all its rates, including it floating rate by -15 bps today. The China Construction Bank has raised all its fixed rates by between +15 and +35 bps.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
ANZ reduced its 3.55% nine month rate back to 3.50%. That "higher TD rate" was announced as part of a set with their 18 month rate when the said they were holding on to part of the -25 bps OCR cut. This part of their "higher TD rate" lasted less than two weeks! Kiwibank has advised it will cut its 90 day NoticeSaver account from 3.00% to 2.75% which will be effective of August 29.
WINE INDUSTRY WITH LABOUR PROBLEMS
A joint operation between the Labour Inspectorate, Immigration New Zealand and Inland Revenue in Marlborough vineyards found contractors committing serious breaches of employment standards. Of the 10 independent contractors visited, two were breaching minimum wage, holiday pay, and record keeping requirements, with another seven asked to supply additional records. Only one contractor of the ten was found to be compliant.
A SAFE SPEAKING GIG
Tomorrow, RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler will be speaking at a private event in Dunedin. His topic is Monetary policy challenges in turbulent times. His speech notes will be available at 9am tomorrow, and we will cover them.
A BIT OF A STANDOUT
The S&P500 closed down -0.1% on the final Friday trading session last week. This lower tone has passed through to the open in Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong today. Sydney is level pegging, Tokyo is up +0.2%. But the star performer today is the NZX50 which is up +0.5% in late afternoon trading.
SWAP RATES STEEPER, HIGHER
There was a stronger, steeper bias in the wholes swap market today, with the short end rising +2 bps and the long end rising +4 bps. NZ swap rates are here. The 90-day bank bill rate was also higher, up +1 bp to 2.23%.
NZ DOLLAR STABLE
The Kiwi dollar is still in the range we have had over the past 8 to 10 weeks. It is now at 72.2 USc, 95.2 AUc, and 64 euro cents. The TWI-5 is still at 75.2. Check our real-time charts here.
You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.
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