Australian bonds plunge tracking U.S. Treasuries on rise in risk appetite ahead of March employment report

Australian government bonds plunged during Asian session Wednesday tracking a similar movement in the United States Treasuries as investors’ risk appetite improved following solid earnings report in the U.S.

Investors will now be keeping a close eye on the country’s employment report for the month of March, scheduled to be released on April 18, which shall provide further direction to the debt market.

The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, jumped nearly 2-1/2 basis points to 1.955 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year bond rose 1 basis point to 2.565 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded tad higher at 1.511 percent by 04:55GMT.

Wall street struggled for traction yesterday as markets await further earnings releases (incl Morgan Stanley, American Express and Taiwan semiconductor) and China’s data dump today. Yesterday saw Blackrock rebound as the asset manager saw USD65 billion in net inflows in 1Q 2019 whilst Bank of America reported record quarterly profit although it did sound warnings on net interest income, sending its shares down initially before recovering again, OCBC Treasury Research reported.

Further, industrial production fell 0.1  in March, below consensus estimate, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday. Capacity utilization also fell to 78.8 percent in March, the lowest rate since last July.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded flat at 6,250.50 by 05:05GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained neutral at 48.32 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex