BNZ Bumps Up Home Loan Rates

December 06, 2022

Good Morning,

Ambitious plans to build Indonesia a brand new capital city are falling apart, construction to begin on the world's biggest telescope, and early optimism on moves by China to further ease Covid restrictions fades, as the path of American rate policy stifled potential gains in European equities and US futures.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • The Stoxx Europe 600 Index ticked lower while contracts on the S&P 500 retreated 0.4%. Treasury yields climbed, lifting the dollar into positive territory.  (BBG)

  • A hotter-than-expected US jobs report last week along with a jump in average hourly earnings point to fresh inflation risks unsettling traders. (BBG)

  • BNZ is increasing its variable home loan rates, to nearly 8%. The bank said on Monday it was lifting its standard, Fly Buys, TotalMoney, Mortgage One and Rapid Repay variable loans to 7.74%. They are currently 7.29%. (Stuff)

  • Shares closed firmer on the Australian stock exchange on Monday as iron ore prices rallied after more cities in top steelmaker China loosened COVID-19 restrictions, brightening the outlook for the global economy. (AFR)

Earnings and Data

  • Aspermont Limited, a media services provider to the global resource industry reported earnings results for the full year ended September 30, 2022. For the full year, the company reported sales was AUD 18.73 million compared to AUD 16.05 million a year ago. Net loss was AUD 0.429 million compared to net income of AUD 0.115 million a year ago. (Market Screener)

  • Metcash chief executive Doug Jones says the second half of fiscal 2023 has started well, with group sales up 6.2 per cent. (AFR)

News Summary

The White House condemned former President Donald Trump after he called for the "termination" of the US constitution, the US dollar has erased more than half of this year’s gains amid growing expectations the Federal Reserve will temper its aggressive rate hikes and Australian PM Anthony Albanese was meant to broker a deal with the eastern states to cap coal prices but the process has been thrown into limbo after he contracted COVID-19.

Deal Flow

Investments/ M&A

  • Italian contractor Webuild has pulled out of a $350 million AUD proposed acquisition of engineering group Clough, forcing the Perth-based contractor, which is building Snowy 2.0, into administration. (AFR)

  • The Ministry for Primary Industries has committed $6.7 million NZD to a land-based salmon farm project being billed as a New Zealand-first. (NBR)

  • On Friday, Camplify (an Airbnb-style website that connects recreational vehicle (RV) owners to budget-conscious holidaymakers) followed the Airbnb playbook of global expansion by completing the $47.6 million acquisition of German RV hire business, PaulCamper, to add to global operations in the United Kingdom, Spain and New Zealand. (AFR)

VC & Fundraising

  • Creative NZ has awarded a $5.3 million contract to develop a digital arts agency to We Are Indigo, a small business advisory group at the centre of a government funding row. (NBR)

Equity Raises

  • Evolution Capital and Roth Capital in the US were seeking buyers for shares in lithium group Xantippe Resources, which went into a trading halt while the raising played out. Xantippe was seeking to raise $20 million at 0.6¢ a share, split into a $12 million placement and $8 million share purchase plan. Investors said the stock was offered with a free attached option, on a one-for-two basis. It was expected to be mostly sold in the US. Xantippe owns the Carachi Lithium Brine Project in Argentina, nearby sites owned by ASX-listed Lake Resources and Allkem (formerly Galaxy Resources). (AFR)

Debt 

  • Most creditors of Hong Kong Airlines Ltd. voted to support the carrier’s proposed HK$49 billion ($6.3 billion) debt restructuring, a step to stave off insolvency after travel to and from the city dried up the past three years. (BBG)

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