New Zealand bonds close lower tracking U.S. Treasuries on hopes of U.S.-China trade talks meet by month-end

The New Zealand bonds closed lower Friday, tracking similar movement in the U.S. Treasuries, following hopes of a re-commencement in the trade talks between the United States and China.

At the time of closing, the yield on the benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, remained tad higher 2.603 percent, the yield on the long-term 20-year note jumped nearly 1-1/2 basis points to 2.92 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year closed nearly flat at 1.71 percent.

According to a report from Bloomberg, U.S. President Donald Trump prodded China to offer more at the bargaining table as the two countries prepared for their first major negotiation in more than two months in an effort to head off an all-out trade war.

"It’s a good thing that they’re sending a delegation here -- we haven’t had that in quite some time. The Chinese government in its totality must not underestimate President Trump’s toughness and willingness to continue this battle to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers and quotas to stop the theft of intellectual property and to stop the forced transfer of technology," the report added, citing National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow in an interview to CNBC on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the NZX 50 index closed 0.60 percent higher at 9,052.77, while at 06:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly NZD Strength Index remained highly bullish at 149.68 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex