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The Australian government bonds plunged Thursday as investors booked profits towards the end of the trading week despite comments by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe, who remained cautious in his economic outlook, citing higher housing prices that pose near-term risks to the economy. Also, investors have largely shrugged off the easing in March trade surplus data, released earlier in the day.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, jumped 4 basis points to 2.64 percent, the yield on 15-year note also climbed 4 basis points to 3.06 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded nearly 4 basis points higher at 1.72 percent by 04:50 GMT.
RBA Governor Lowe said household debt rising faster than incomes has left the economy in a weaker position to deal with shocks, and reminded borrowers that interest rates will one day rise. He further added that lifting interest rates in response is too risky: it would damage the recovery given slack in the labor market, record-low wage growth and inflation that remains tepid despite recent gains.
"At some point, interest rates in Australia will increase. To be clear, this is not a signal about the near-term outlook for interest rates in Australia but rather a reminder that over time we could expect interest rates to rise, not least because of global developments," Bloomberg reported, citing the central bank governor.
Lastly, Australia’s trade surplus narrowed AUD550 million in March, but remained a solid AUD3.1 billion. It was the fifth consecutive monthly surplus in excess of AUD2 billion, reflecting a rebound in commodity prices late last year and early this year, which have boosted the value of export receipts.
Meanwhile, the ASX 200 index traded 0.36 percent down at 5,850.50 by 05:20GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained highly bearish at -163.64 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
