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Australian government bonds slumped on the last trading day of the week Friday following weakness in the U.S. Treasuries, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 2.849 percent compared with 2.827 percent Tuesday.
The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year Note, which moves inversely to its price, rose 2 basis points to 2.648 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year Note jumped 1 basis point to 3.103 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year up 1/2 basis point to 2.005 percent by 03:30 GMT.
In the United States, Treasuries held tighter trading ranges on Thursday, alongside a modest rebound in equities as markets basked in some amount of calm regarding the escalating trade war between the US and China (and everyone else). With respect to data, markets saw downward final revisions for 1Q18 (coming in around 2.0 percent, below expectations for a 2.2 percent result), alongside an increase in initial jobless claims (increasing to 227k, up from 218k seen prior).
With respect to speakers, markets received largely repeated commentary from Boston Fed President Rosengren, Atlanta Fed President Bostic and St. Louis Fed President Bullard, none of which served to alter the expected pace of Fed policy. Markets now look ahead to a greater flow of data to finish off the week on Friday, highlighted by personal income/spending, Chicago PMI and University of Michigan consumer sentiment releases.
Thursday’s move came a day after concerns about trade tensions between the U.S. and China helped send yields to their lowest level since May 31.
Next week, the Reserve bank of Australia (RBA) monetary policy meeting will be on investors list, where the Australian central bank is expected to hold its current policy stance, keeping interest rate unchanged at 1.50 percent.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded 0.23 percent lower at 6,172.5 by 03:50 GMT, while at 03:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained neutral at 54.35 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
