Australian short-term bonds slump on profit booking, investors eye U.S. non-farm payroll data

Australian short-term government bonds slumped on Friday as investors cashed in profits on the last trading day of the week. The market will now look ahead to the U.S. non-farm payroll data scheduled to be released today at 13:30GMT.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, traded flat at 2.808 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note dipped 1/2 basis point to 3.386 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year up 2-1/2 basis points to 2.031 percent by 03:00 GMT.

The February Labor Department employment situation report will be released on Friday, 9 March at 13:30GMT. Overall, the market expects non-farm payrolls (NFP) will increase 200K in February, versus the 200k reading seen in January.

On Thursday, Australia’s trade surplus came in at AUD1.055 billion in January, up from AUD1.358 billion deficit the month prior, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The January surplus was more than triple the AUD330 million forecasts by a Reuters’ survey and was driven by a 4 percent m/m increase in exports and a 2 percent drop in imports.

 Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded 0.22 percent higher at 5,965.5 by 03:20 GMT, while at 03:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained neutral at 48.89 (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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