Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today (or if you work from home, before you shutdown your laptop).

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
SBS has trimmed its fixed rates today, but has also ended its 3.99% 12 month First Home Combo special, raising it to 4.29%. This is still lower than any other 1 year rate, in fact any other bank rate for any term. All rates are here. And remember, you can compare mortgage offers with our new calculator that takes into account other costs and cashback incentives, here.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
No changes to note today here either. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

‘DON’T WANT MORE EXPOSURE’
We are seeing more insurers restricting their risks for climate and/or seismic risks. AA Insurance has put “temporary restrictions’ on new home insurance policies in ‘a small number of postcodes’ after reaching its maximum exposure limit for seismic risk in these areas, its head of underwriting says. Clients have had some insurance premium shocks recently, and affordability of premiums becomes a greater issue. See this chart of data deep within the CPI surveys.

BETTER RESILIENCE
But it is not all a one-way street. Christchurch company Seismic Shift wants to make new-build homes more resilient against earthquakes with house shock absorbers.

CREEPING UP
We should probably note that since early July, our grocery price monitor of a standard healthy basket has been rising at about a +5% pa pace, its fastest since the declining post-pandemic peaks in 2023.

NZX50 TURNS FIRMER
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index was up +0.3% in another positive Friday session. And it is up +1.9% over the past working five days. It also up +0.8% year-to-date. And it is now up +3.9% from a year ago. Market heavyweight F&P Healthcare is up +0.6% today so far. Today’s changes are led today Kathmandu, Briscoe, Hallenstein and Gentrack, while Fletcher, Oceania, SkyCity casino and Serko decline.

HIGH RATING FOR LOWER COSTS
The Community Housing Finding Agency has been given an A+ credit rating by S&P. Its bonds are guaranteed by the Government. Investing in these bonds is only open for wholesale investors.

MORE JOBS, MORE HOURS WORKED, FEWER HAVING SECONDARY OR MULTIPLE JOBS
In Australia, extended June quarter labour market data shows that the number of total jobs increased +0.3% to 16.3 million. Filled jobs rose +0.2% to 16.0 million where secondary jobs decreased -1.2% to 1.0 million and multiple job-holders decreased -1.3% to 948,900. Hours worked increased +0.3% to 6.0 billion hours in the quarter

BNPL TO LOSE ITS GREY STATUS
And staying in Australia, they have progressed legislation that will bring digital wallets, cash distribution services, buy now, pay later schemes and other emerging payment methods directly within the oversight of the regulatory agencies who oversee debt products. It will no longer be a grey area. And it seems likely that will trigger similar moves here otherwise we will be victimised by regulatory arbitrage.

SWAP RATES HOLD
Wholesale swap rates are will probably be little-changed today across the curve. Keep an eye on our chart below which will record the final positions closer to 5pm. The 90 day bank bill rate was unchanged at 3.01% on Thursday. Today, the Australian 10 year bond yield is down -3 bps at 4.35%. The China 10 year bond rate is up +2 bps at 1.76%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is down -1 bp at 4.44%. The RBNZ data is now all delayed by one business day now, and was down -5 bps at 4.43% at the end of Thursday trade. The UST 10yr yield is down -7 bps from yesterday, now at 4.15% and back to early April levels.

EQUITIES FIRM
The local equity market is again firmer in Friday trade, but only up +0.2% now. The ASX200 however is up +0.3% in afternoon trade. Tokyo has opened up +0.7%. Hong Kong up +0.6% with Shanghai up +0.3%. Singapore has opened up +0.2%. Wall Street ended their Thursday trade with the S&P500 up +0.8%.

OIL SOFTISH
The oil price in the US is now just under US$63.50/bbl and little-changed with the international Brent price down -50 USc to US$67/bbl.

CARBON PRICE FIRMISH
There are more trades again today and the price has firmed slightly to $57.50. The next official carbon auction is next week on September 10, 2025 and heading for another failure. See our daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD FIRMS
In early Asian trade, gold is up +US$24 from yesterday at US$3549/oz and back up just off its record high.

NZD WEAKER
The Kiwi dollar is down -20 bps from this time yesterday, now at 58.6 USc. Against the Aussie we are down -10 bps at 89.8 AUc. Against the euro we are down -20 bps at 50.2 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is now at just over 66.1 and down -20 bps.

BITCOIN STILL ON HOLD
The bitcoin price is now at US$111,355 and again virtually unchanged from this time yesterday. Volatility has been modestat just under +/- 1.1%.

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This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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