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Economy WatchAuthor: Interest.co.nz / Podcasts NZ, David Chaston, Gareth Vaughan, interest.co.nz
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Pressure re-applied as Hormuz chaos returns
Episode 1786
Sunday, 19 April, 2026
Kia ora. Welcome to Monday’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. Today we lead with news expectations of an imminent resolution of the Persian Gulf standoff have stalled. Iranian officials have reversed reopening the Strait of Hormuz after the US refused to end its blockade of Iranian ports. Ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz have been fired on. This is expected to weigh on financial markets when they open later today. This week locally will be all about the March quarter CPI which will be released on Tuesday. Because most of that quarter didn't see the oil price spike until March, markets expect a 2.9% quarterly rate, slightly less than the 3.1% rate in Q4, 2025. It is a data series that really needs to be released monthly. It will be preceded by trade balance (today), and followed by the QSBO and an update on productivity. In Australia, there are no major economic data releases, although we will get a flash report on their April PMI. In the US, apart from earnings updates, they too will get a flash April PMI, and confirmation hearings for Kevin Warsh will but this billionaire in the spotlight. In China, PMI results will also feature in a light data week. In Japan, it will be about March trade data and retail sales. Central banks will review their monetary policy settings and rates in China, Malaysia and the Philippines this week. Over the weekend, Iran confirmed what most people understood - Trump was 'claiming victory' without any deals in place, and that is making ship transit of the Straits of Hormuz hazardous again. It looks like the progress claimed was a mirage. In Canada, small business sentiment rose in April, an unexpected shift but likely due to local election results. The trade group that does this survey says it is still weak, but it is actually back to the levels that prevailed prior to the pandemic. But Canadian housing starts sagged somewhat in March, coming in below February levels and what was expected. But they are now +6.9% higher than year-ago levels. Indian loan growth reached +16.1% in the year to March according to official data released overnight. That is the fastest pace they have recorded since they started tracking this metric in April 2025. In China, their construction machinery sector rose strongly in March with excavator sales up nearly +30%, of which domestic demand was up almost +24%. Malaysian CPI inflation remained tame in March, up just +1.7%, although that was their highest rate since the beginning of 2025. They also reported that Q1-2026 economic activity rose +5.3%, and slightly less than the +5.5% expected. Meanwhile, Singaporean exports were up +15.3% from a year ago, their second fasted monthly rise since mid 2024. The UST 10yr yield is now just on 4.24%, down -1 bp from this time Saturday and the same for the week. The price of gold will start today down -US$28 at US$4829/oz. Silver is down -50 USc at US$81/oz. American oil prices are down -50 USc at just under US$84, while the international Brent price is also down -50 USc, and now at US$90.50/bbl. These new levels are down -US$12 and -US$4/bbl respectively. The North American rig counts fell again. Tonight, all eyes will be on the IEA's April update of the global oil situation. The Kiwi dollar is down -10 bps from Saturday at this time at 58.8 USc, up +30 bps for the week. Against the Aussie we are unchanged at 82.1 AUc. Against the euro we are also unchanged at just on 50 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today also unchanged from Saturday at just over 62.2 but up +20 bps for the week. The bitcoin price starts today at US$74,842 and down -3.0% from this time Saturday. A week ago it was US$72,976. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at just on +/- 1.1%. You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz. Kia ora. I'm David Chaston and we’ll do this again tomorrow.
