Kia ora,

Welcome to Thursday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.

I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.

And today we lead with news the Fed has held its policy rate unchanged at 5.5% but given strong signals cuts are coming - but later than markets were expecting. However they still see three cuts in 2024.

The UST 10yr yield fell slightly on the news. The US dollar fell slightly too. Wall Street moved higher.

Meanwhile, American mortgage interest rates rose back to just on 7% last week for their benchmark 30 year fixed rate following the prior week's surprise drop. That came as mortgage applications ticked lower again last week and are now -14% lower than the same week a year ago.

China held its prime loan rates unchanged at record lows in its review yesterday. You will recall they cut its 5 year prime rate (the reference for mortgage lending) by an outsized -25% bps last month.

Taiwanese export orders slumped more than -10% in February, a surprise because markets had expected a +1.3% rise following a +1.9% gain in January. But it was not to be. Orders for heavy equipment fell, especially from the EU, Japan and China, and these falls overwhelmed their rising AI chip exports.

The EU sentiment rose to be less negative in its March survey. It is now at its least-weak level since February 2022, amid a gradual slowdown in inflation and optimism surrounding potential interest rate cuts by the ECB later in the year.

Britain's inflation rate dropped to 3.4% in February, down from 4% recorded in both January and December and slightly below market expectation of 3.5%. It was their lowest rate since September 2021.

In Australia, a recent swell in business failures in construction, hospitality and retail has pushed up the number of monthly insolvencies to the highest in almost a decade. The absolute levels aren't high, but the trend will worry officials.

New Zealand has slipped one place in the World Happiness Report rankings, and now sits just outside the top ten (at #11) in 2024. Australia moved up from 12th last year to 10th this year.

The UST 10yr yield started today at 4.28% and down -2 bps from yesterday. After the Fed's decision it fell to 4.25%. 

The price of gold will start today little-changed from yesterday at US$2157/oz.

Oil prices are lower today at just on US$81/bbl in the US while the international Brent price is now just on at US$85/bbl. Both are -US$1.50 lower than this time yesterday.

The Kiwi dollar starts today at just on 60.4 USc and a small -10 bps dip from yesterday. After the Fed news, it rose to 60.6 USc. Against the Aussie we are still at 92.4 AUc. Against the euro we are still at 55.6 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at just on 69.6 and marginally firmer.

The bitcoin price starts today at US$64,620 and up +1.6% since this time yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been moderate at just on +/- 2.8%. There seems to be an outflow rush underway from some key ETFs.

You can find links to the articles mentioned today in our show notes.

You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.

Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again on tomorrow.