Australian bonds snap rally tracking weakness in U.S. Treasuries, higher equities

The Australian bonds snapped rally on the last trading day of the week, tracking weakness in the U.S. counterpart and as investors poured into riskier assets, including equities and crude oil. Also, upbeat retail sales data from the U.S. offset the rise in its initial jobless claims, lending further weakness in safe-haven assets.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose 1 basis point to 2.77 percent, the yield on 15-year note also climbed 1 basis point to 3.17 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded 1/2 basis point higher at 1.78 percent by 05:00 GMT.

Investors unwound carry trades while watching to see whether the President Trump can push through a healthcare bill, as failure could signal problems to come pursuing his economic agenda. Financial markets' immediate focus is on whether Trump can gather enough support at a vote later in the day to rollback Obamacare, one of his key campaign pledges.

Further, market participants remain worried that if the White House fails at this hurdle, progress on fiscal stimulus and tax cuts might be derailed. The jitters have hurt risk sentiment globally and undermined commodity prices, which is bad for Australia.

Meanwhile, the ASX 200 index traded 2.43 percent up at 5,750.50 by 05:10GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained neutral at -65.38 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex