New Zealand bonds jump tracking firmness in U.S. Treasuries, stocks sell-off

New Zealand bonds jumped Wednesday, following firmness in the U.S. Treasuries as equities indices were dragged by weakness in the technology stocks.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond, which moves inversely to its price, slumped 1 basis point to 3.08 percent at the time of closing, the yield on 7-year note remained also plunged 3-1/2 basis points to 2.69 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note also traded 1/2 basis point lower at 2.09 percent.

One of the biggest drags of the day so far is Apple, whose shares had fallen 1.8 per cent since the open amid fears that it is planning to replace chips from a key supplier Dialog Semiconductor. Other tech stocks seeing a sell-off included Micron Technologies, down 3.1 percent, Qualcomm, off 2.4 percent, Texas Instruments, down 2.1 per cent and Intel, off 1.5 percent.

Ahead of the first round of quarterly bank earnings this week, financials were also in the red, led by the likes of Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, both down more than 2 per cent before lunchtime in New York, Financial Times reported.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index closed 0.04 percent lower at 7,251.55, while at 05:00 GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly NZD Strength Index remained neutral at 37.60 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex