Australian bonds fall in muted trading session ahead of RBA Assistant Governor Bullock’s speech

Australian government bonds fell during Asian trading session Monday amid a muted day that witnessed data of little economic significance ahead of a keynote speech by Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) Assistant Governor Michele Bullock’s speech, scheduled to be delivered on June 25 by 07:05GMT.

The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, edged tad higher to 1.289 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year bond barely rose 1 basis point to 1.909 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year remained steady at 0.908 percent by 05:40GMT.

After last week’s dovish messaging from the US Federal Reserve, market focus will likely turn to the highly anticipated Trump-Xi talks at the G20 summit in Osaka starting this Friday. However, the expectations bar has been set relatively high, especially with China calling for all tariffs to be removed before negotiations can start in earnest. Prior to the G20 meeting, there is sufficient grist to keep markets roiling along for now, OCBC Treasury Research reported.

Wall Street closed lower on Friday, with the 10-year UST bond yield also up 2bps to 2.05 percent. Asian markets may range trade today, awaiting further market cues, the report added.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index remained 0.63 percent lower at 6,573.50 by 05:35GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained neutral at 68.48 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex