ASB did a beautiful job this week of announcing fee increases for its KiwiSaver funds.

A weakening recovery and the Christchurch earthquake have prompted the Reserve Bank to leave official interest rates on hold this morning at 3 per cent.

New Zealanders may have a new, locally owned bank to invest in by February next year.

Kiwibank accounted for 40 per cent of new residential mortgages written by the major banks in the June quarter.

World share prices surged overnight, bolstered by solid data from US, China and a good European growth forecast.

It's strange that the National Australia Bank's (NAB) final knockback in its attempt to take over AXA has received such little airplay in the New Zealand press.

The Christchurch earthquake reinforces expectations the Reserve Bank will leave the OCR unchanged at 3pc on Thursday.

The Christchurch earthquake means the Reserve Bank is now unlikely to raise the Official Cash Rate (OCR) again until next year, ASB economists say.