New Zealand bonds end lower in muted trading tracking weakness in U.S. counterpart

The New Zealand bonds ended lower Thursday tracking the weakness in its U.S. counterpart after the proposal from top Congressional Democrats sought to fund the government to avert a shutdown as well as programs aimed to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

At the time of closing, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose 1-1/2 basis points to 2.82 percent, the yield on 7-year note also slipped 1-1/2 basis points to 2.67 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year ended 1 basis point lower at 1.98 percent.

Job advertisements rose by 1.0 percent in August, after falling 0.9 percent in July. For the year to August, job advertisements rose by 9.3 percent, up from growth of 8.3 percent in the year to July.

U.S. bond yields rose on Wednesday as a congressional fiscal plan that includes a three-month suspension of the debt ceiling gained support from President Donald Trump, reducing safe-haven demand among investors worried about a short-term default. The proposal from top Congressional Democrats also seeks to fund the government to avert a shutdown as well as programs aimed to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Meanwhile, the NZX 50 index ended 0.18 percent higher at 7,804.26, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly NZD Strength Index remained highly bearish at -139.23 (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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