Australian bonds sharply rebound post RBA stay unchanged, delivers less hawkish tone

The Australian bonds sharply rebounded Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) remained unchanged in its monetary policy decision, revealed today and maintained a lesser-than-expected hawkish tone of its underlying statement after major central banks pre-empted a hawkish sentiment across major global markets at an ECB forum early last week.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, slumped 5-1/2 basis points to 2.58 percent, the yield on 15-year note plunged 6 basis points to 2.94 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year also traded nearly 6 basis points lower at 1.70 percent by 04:40 GMT.

The RBA continued to stay pat on the line of its monetary policy, as officials voted to keep interest rates at record lows in support of faster growth and inflation. The central bank decided to hold the overnight cash rate at 1.50 percent, where it has stood since August 2016. The decision was widely expected by the financial markets. However, the tone of the underlying statement was less hawkish than anticipated, after major central bankers delivered hawkish statements early last week.

In contrast, retail sales again beat market expectations in May, rising 0.6 percent m/m compared to a forecast increase of just 0.2 percent m/m. Following the 1.0 percent m/m rise in April, the base for spending in Q2 looks strong. Annual growth picked up to 3.8 percent y/y in May, reflecting a significant improvement from the 2.3 percent growth reported over the year to March 2017.

Meanwhile, the ASX 200 index jumped 1.38 percent to 5,746.50 by 04:50GMT, while at 04:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained highly bullish at 172.89 (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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