Australian bonds surge tracking U.S. Treasuries after Fed Chair Powell stresses on 'patient' monetary policy stance

Australian government bond yields slumped during Asian trading session Wednesday tracking a similar movement in the United States’ counterpart after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stressed on a 'patient' monetary policy stance despite expectations of a solid economic growth this year.

Further, global debt yields took a slide following strong investors demand worth of $32 billion at the 7-year U.S. note auction held late yesterday.

The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, slumped 2-1/2 basis points to 2.068 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year bond suffered nearly 2 basis points to trade at 2.628 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year plunged over 2-1/2 basis points to 1.711 percent by 04:30GMT.

In his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, Powell reiterated that “the baseline outlook is good” though he warned that the US economy may feel the impact from the slowdown overseas in the coming months.

It seems that Fed’s patient stance may continue until the change of inflation or growth dynamics. Market will wait for Powell’s second testimony tonight to the House Financial Service Committee.

According to a report from Reuters, the U.S. Treasury Department's sale of $32 billion in a seven-year auction fetched a yield of 2.538 percent, which was the lowest yield at a seven-year auction since December 2007; its bid-to-cover ratio was the strongest since last August.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded tad higher at 6,121.50 by 04:35GMT, while at 04:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained highly bullish at 110.25 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex