Australian bonds continue on the downside despite sharp losses in equities

The Australian bonds continued to be on the downside Tuesday as investors moved away from safe-haven assets despite sharp losses witnessed in the equity market, slightly tracking U.S. Treasuries. Also, markets will be focusing on the RBA Assistant Governor Kent’s speech, scheduled to be held today by 22:35GMT, for further direction in the debt market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose 1 basis point to 2.64 percent, the yield on the 15-year note climbed 1/2 basis point to 2.94 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year also traded 1 basis point higher at 1.80 percent by 03:10 GMT.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell a sharp 4.0 percent last week, partially unwinding the gains over the previous two weeks. Though four out of five sub-indices posted declines, the fall in confidence was driven primarily by a sharp reversal of sentiment around economic conditions.

A measure of the country’s business confidence, by National Australia Bank, hit its highest since early 2008 in July as sales and profits stayed strong, while firms turned more confident the purple patch would last for some time yet. The index rose 1 point to +15 in July, triple its long-run average of +5. After lagging behind, the survey's measure of business confidence jumped 4 points to +12 and back to levels seen before the global financial crisis.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index slumped 1.00 percent to 5,669.50 by 04:20 GMT, while at 03:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained neutral at -42.00 (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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