Australian bonds mixed on better-than-expected December employment report

The Australian bonds traded mixed during Asian session Thursday after the country’s employment report for the month of December exceeded market expectations, amid the increase in the number of cases and geographical spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.  

The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, remained flat at 1.117 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year bond slipped 1-1/2 basis points to 1.720 percent while the yield on short-term 2-year jumped 3 basis points to trade at 0.760 percent by 03:35GMT.

Financial markets may remain on edge ahead of the upcoming Chinese New Year festive holidays even though the World Health Organization delayed declaring it an international emergency, OCBC Treasury Research reported.

China stepped up its efforts to prevent the Wuhan coronavirus from spreading further yesterday. The city of Wuhan with 11 million population has been literally locked down with public transportation network suspended, the report added.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded tad -0.64 percent down at 7,011.50 by 03:40GMT.