Australia bonds slump tracking softer U.S. counterpart after Treasury Secretary Mnuchin backs weaker dollar to boost trade

Australian bonds slumped during early Asian session Thursday, tracking a similar movement in the U.S. counterpart after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin volunteered that a weaker dollar would support America’s trade in the global perspective.

The U.S. 30-year bond yields, which move inversely to prices, rose to their highest in more than three months, while those on 10-year and 2-year notes touched session highs.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, jumped 2 basis points to 2.83 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note surged nearly 3 basis points to 3.47 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded flat at 2.09 percent by 03:15 GMT.

The dollar, already under pressure the last few months, tumbled on his comments. Central banks aside from the Federal Reserve, such as the European Central Bank, have moved to normalize their monetary policies, boosting their currencies at the expense of the dollar. Treasuries sold off on Wednesday in tandem with the dollar following Mnuchin's remarks.

The U.S. Treasury's $34 bln 5-year auction showed mixed results, with the yield coming slightly higher than expected at 2.434 percent, the highest for this debt maturity since April 2010. Bids totaled USD84.4 billion for a 2.48 bid-to-cover ratio, higher than the previous auction's 2.36 and the 2.44 average. Indirect bidders, which include foreign central banks, accepted 65.0 percent, also above December's 58.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded 0.05 percent higher at 5,984.50 by 03:20 GMT, while at 03:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained neutral at -11.00 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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