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
ASB has cut all its fixed rates. The details are here. This follows yesterday’s late cut by Westpac. ICBC also trimmed rates today. All rates are here. And note, you can compare mortgage offers with our new calculator that takes into account other costs and cashback incentives, here.

TERM DEPOSIT/SAVINGS RATE CHANGES
Matching most mortgage rate reductions have been term deposit rate cuts. We have reviewed where these stand in this update. Also note that SBS has launched another ‘special’ of 4.35% for six months. All updated term deposit rates less than 1 year are here, for 1-5 years, they are here.

KIWISAVER HARDSHIP WITHDRAWALS STOP GROWING, BUT AREN’T REDUCING EITHER
Nearly $215 mln was taken out of KiwiSaver in early withdrawals during August for first homes and financial hardship, according to IRD data. Although that is not a record high (that was in July 2025), it is +17% higher than in August 2024 and that was the lowest year-on-year change since April 2023. Hardship withdrawals rose sharply starting in early 2023 until the end of 2024 but have not risen (or really fallen) since the start of 2025.

LIVESTOCK SECTOR SHRINKING
In the year to August, only just over 20 mln sheep were processed at all works nationwide. Ignoring the pandemic disruption, this is the lowest level since these records started in 1988. And the latest totals are actually very close to the pandemic affected years. In about six months, that annualised total will have slipped below 20 mln. In fact the processing of cattle at the works is now falling too, down to 2018 levels. So the processing capacity issues are only going to get larger. And this won’t help.

NZX50 FIRMER AGAIN
As at 3pm, the overall NZX50 index was up +0.2% net in its Friday session so far, after a slowish start. It is up +2.8% over the past five working days. And it is up +3.1% year-to-date. From a year ago it is now up +7.2%. Market heavyweight F&P Healthcare is up +0.6% today so far. Oceania, SkyCity casino, Freightways and Kathmandu gain; a2 Milk, Auckland Airport, Gentrack and Serko fall.

OLDER THAN US
We hear a lot about Japan and China, but other Asian countries are getting older faster. Singaporean data has just revealed that for the first time, more than 20% of their population is now 65 year or older. In New Zealand that ratio is now 17% (as is the ratio in Australia). Singapore has a population of 6.1 mln. New Zealand’s population is 5.4 mln. The next ‘oldest ASEAN country is Thailand where 15% of their population is 65 or older. (For Japan, the ratio is 30%, for China 15%, for South Korea 20%.)

A RISE BUT NOT A CONCERN
In Japan, after falling to an unusually low 2.3%, their jobless rate rose in August to 2.6% which was a rise that was more than expected and higher than at any time in 2025. It is now more like its 2022-2024 average.

SWAP RATES SOFTISH
Wholesale swap rates are will probably be marginally firmer today for all durations except the 1 year. Keep an eye on our chart below which will record the final positions closer to 5pm. The 90 day bank bill rate was down -1 bp on Thursday at 2.77%. Today, the Australian 10 year bond yield is up +1 bp from yesterday at 4.32%. The China 10 year bond rate is unchanged at 1.88%. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is up +1 bp at 4.24%. The RBNZ data is now all delayed with Thursday’s rate down -3 bps to 4.19%. The UST 10yr yield is down -1 bp at 4.09%.

EQUITIES MIXED
The local equity market is now up +0.3% in Friday trade. The ASX200 is up +0.4% in afternoon trade. Tokyo has opened up +1.6%. Hong Kong is down -0.7% at its open and of course Shanghai is still on its holiday break. Singapore is down -0.3% at its open. Wall Street ended its Thursday session with the S&P500 up +0.1%, ignoring the shutdown drama..

OIL DIPS AGAIN
The oil price in the US is down -$1.50 to just on US$60.50/bbl and the international Brent price is now down at just under US$64.50/bbl.

CARBON PRICE HOLDS
Prices remain range-bound on very light volumes, holding at $57/NZU. The next official carbon auction is on December 3, 2025 and likely heading for another failure. See our daily chart tracker of the NZU price for carbon, courtesy of emsTradepoint.

GOLD HOLDS
In early Asian trade, gold is up to US$3857/oz, down -US$7 from this time yesterday.

NZD HOLDS
The Kiwi dollar is unchanged from yesterday at 58.3 USc. Against the Aussie we are up +10 bps at 88.2 AUc. Against the euro we are unchanged at 49.7 euro cents. This all means the TWI-5 is now holding at just over 65.5.

BITCOIN FIRMS AGAIN
The bitcoin price is now at US$119,951 and up nearly +1% from this time yesterday. Volatility has again been modest, just on +/- 1.1%.

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This soil moisture chart is animated here.

Keep abreast of upcoming events by following our Economic Calendar here ».