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Australian bonds snapped gains during early Asian session Monday as investors cashed-in profits amid recovery in risk sentiments. Also, investors are awaiting the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) monetary policy statement, scheduled to be released on February 8 by 00:30GMT.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, jumped 5-1/2 basis points to 2.85 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note surged 3-1/2 basis points to 3.47 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year hovered around 2.02 percent 03:00GMT.
The Reserve Bank (RBA) left the cash rate unchanged at 1.50% at its board meeting held yesterday. The RBA’s accompanying statement suggested the RBA is more optimistic about the economic outlook, despite the ructions in financial markets over recent days. This optimism was most evident when discussing the global economy and the domestic labour market.
On the global economy, the RBA now describes the pick-up in the global economy in 2017 as being “broad-based” and notes that “a number of advanced economies are growing at an above-trend rate”.
The RBA also seemed to have a brighter outlook for the Australian economy and this may well be reflected in revisions to its forecasts this Friday in the Statement on Monetary Policy.
Further, the central bank expects GDP growth to pick up, to average “a bit above 3%” over the next couple of years. It compares to the previous expectation of “around 3%”. The RBA also chose stronger language to describe its expectation of a continued improvement in the jobs market.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded 0.60 percent lower at 5,826.5 by 03:10 GMT, while at 03:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained slightly bearish at -94.34 (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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