US has skills gap; Fed officials talk up hike; air travel grows strongly; China leaks fx reserves faster; Aussie dairy industry shrinks; UST 10yr yield at 1.54%; oil up, gold down; NZ$1 = 74.5 US¢, TWI-5 = 77.5

Here's my summary of the key events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news funds continue to leak out of China at a fast pace.

But first, data on American job openings surged to a record high in July, but a lag in hiring suggested employers were struggling to find qualified workers to fill the positions. The skills gap is becoming an important aspect of their labour market.

Wall Street is edging lower, perhaps because three Federal Reserve officials hinted (here, here and here) at an interest rate hike as soon as this month.

Perhaps today's Beige Book release helped them. It concluded their economy continued to expand at a modest pace in July and August, with most districts reporting tight labour markets and moderate growth in hiring.

More data out today shows strong growth in world passenger air travel which was up +5.9% in July, year-on-year. However, most of that is being driven by some remarkable growth in both India and China.

In China, their foreign exchange reserves dropped more than expected in August, hitting the lowest level since December 2011, and showing that capital outflows remain a problem. Their forex reserves stood at US$3.2 tln at the end of last month, down almost US$16 bln from the end of July, according to data released by the People’s Bank of China. The market was expecting a US$11 bln fall. This latest fall caps a huge outflow; China's foreign exchange reserves were almost US$4 tln in early 2014.

In Australia, the diary industry is on a rapid path of lower milk production. Some are talking of output "plummeting".

But at least housing affordability is improving there. The latest REIA/Adelaide Bank home loan affordability report shows that on average only 29.4% of household income is now needed to afford a mortgage payment in Australia. That is the lowest level in over seven years. In New Zealand, that equivalent level is 32.9%.

Internationally, the focus will shift to the ECB who will review their monetary policy settings tonight.

In New York the UST 10yr yield has stayed down 1.54% today.

The oil price has risen marginally today with the US benchmark price now just under US$45.50 a barrel, while the Brent benchmark just under US$48 a barrel.

The gold price however is lower, now just over US$1,344/oz.

The New Zealand dollar has pushed even higher today following yesterday's strong rises across the board. It’s now at 74.5 US¢, 97.1 AU¢ and 66.3 euro cents. The TWI index is now up at 77.5 a sixteen month high. In fact, the TWI is now more than +3% higher than when the RBNZ cut the OCR on August 11.

If you want to catch up with all the local changes yesterday, we have an update here.

The easiest place to stay up with event risk today is by following our Economic Calendar here ».