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
No changes to report today. All rates are here.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
Kiwibank trimmed its six month TD rate by -5 bps, the only change today. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

GLOOMY JOBS DATA CONTINUES
The latest filled jobs figures point to likely gloomy employment figures for the June quarter. The monthly filled jobs data shows a slight rise in June, but the May figures showed a rise initially as well – and that’s now been revised down to a fall. The primary sector continues to be a notable bright spot for employment

BACK IN BALANCE
Residential construction in Auckland may be flattening out as dwelling completions start to match building consents. This is confirmed by the latest figures suggesting new dwelling completions in Auckland are roughly in balance with building consent levels now.

NO MORE SURCHARGING?
The Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson said the Government will ban card payment surcharges, ‘shoppers will no longer be penalised’ for how they pay, he said. This will undoubtedly be good for consumers, but the merchants are likely to be in the middle, facing fat fees from Visa and Mastercard along with Google and Apple. If the low-fee EFTPOS makes a return that is likely to be good for everyone (other than the tech bros). Interestingly, the ban on surcharging will not apply to online shopping, just in-store shopping. Retailers are warning about price increases as a consequence.

LOG MARKET BALANCE
Seasonal slowdowns in China and India, combined with weak domestic demand has been matched by reduced harvest volumes, keeping the log market steady.

NZX50 IN GOOD GAIN
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index is +0.7% higher today, although down -0.1% from a week ago. That makes it down -0.9% since the start of the year although it is still up +5.1% from this time last year. Today Rakon (yes) is up +11.0%, Kathmandu is up +3.9%, SkyCity casino is up +2.9%, Infratil and Tower are both up +2.5%. Market heavyweight F&P Healthcare is up +0.7%. The decliners are led by NZX down -2.6%, Skellerup down -1.6%, Precinct down -1.2%, and Briscoes down -0.8%.

FOR OUR AUSSIE READERS
We now have a new service for our Australian readers; interest.com.au

SWAP RATES LITTLE-CHANGED
Wholesale swap rates are likely a touch lower today although the shift is only slight. 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 3.19% on Friday. The Australian 10 year bond yield is little-changed at 4.35%. The China 10 year bond rate is up +1 bp at 1.72%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is unchanged at 4.62% but up +4 bps at 4.61% in the earlier RBNZ fix today. The UST 10yr yield is also unchanged at 4.39%

EQUITIES MIXED AGAIN
The local equity market is up +0.5% in late Monday trade, and easing from the 3pm level reported above. However the ASX200 is up only +0.3% in afternoon trade. Tokyo has opened down -0.7% . Hong Kong is up +0.7% at its open and Shanghai is up +0.2%. Singapore has dipped -0.2%. Wall Street futures markets are signaling a strong +1.0% rise on the S&P500 when they open tomorrow, a relief rally on the EU-US tariff deal.

OIL FIRMISH
The oil price in the US is up a bit less than +50USc, now at just on US$65.50/bbl and just under US$69 for the international Brent price.

CARBON PRICE STILL LOW
The carbon price is holding at NZ$56.70/NZU but again, with trades very scarce. The next official carbon auction is on September 10, 2025. See our daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD STABLE
In early Asian trade, gold is stable from this morning at US$3336/oz.

NZD HOLDS
The Kiwi dollar is unchanged from where opened this morning at 60.2 USc. Against the Aussie we are stillat 91.6 AUc. Against the euro we still at 51.2 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is holding at 67.3.

BITCOIN HOLDS
The bitcoin price is now at US$119,403 and up +0.2% from this morning’s open. Volatility has been low, now at just on +/-0.8.

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This soil moisture chart is animated here.

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