New Zealand bonds slump at close after latest poll signals victory of ruling National Party

The New Zealand bonds slumped at the time of closing on a slight improvement in investors’ risk appetite after a new poll on the country’s upcoming election showed the National Party on 10 points lead of the Labour counterpart, with the numbers to potentially govern alone.

At the time of closing, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, jumped 4-1/2 basis points to 2.86 percent, the yield on 7-year note surged 4 basis points to 2.72 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year ended 1-1/2  basis points higher at 2.02 percent.

According to the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll, the National Party has been put on a lead of 47.3 percent, up 4 percentage points from its previous poll, with Labour on 37.6 percent, a 1.6 percent-point drop. New Zealand First is at 6 percent, a slight drop in the previous poll, and the Green Party is at 4.9 percent, a drop of 1.2 points.

The poll gives National 61 seats, with Labour claiming 49 seats, and New Zealand First getting eight. It puts the Green Party at 4.9 percent, just under the threshold necessary to make it into Parliament.

It's preferred Prime Minister poll put National leader Bill English up 3 points to 33.1 percent, Labour's Jacinda Ardern on 31.7 percent, up 1.8 points, and New Zealand First's Winston Peters on 6.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the NZX 50 index ended 0.17 percent lower at 7,827.43, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly NZD Strength Index remained neutral at 68.66 (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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