South Africa Eyes ECB Repo Lines as Inflation Eases and Rate Cuts Loom 
Nikkei 225 Hits Record High Above 56,000 After Japan Election Boosts Market Confidence 
Australian Household Spending Dips in December as RBA Tightens Policy 
UK Starting Salaries See Strongest Growth in 18 Months as Hiring Sentiment Improves 
Trump’s Inflation Claims Clash With Voters’ Cost-of-Living Reality 
U.S.-India Trade Framework Signals Major Shift in Tariffs, Energy, and Supply Chains 
Australian Pension Funds Boost Currency Hedging as Aussie Dollar Strengthens 
Australian government bonds plunged during Asian trading session Thursday tracking a similar movement in the United States’ Treasuries on hopes of a trade deal with China in the upcoming G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, scheduled to start from tomorrow, which repelled investors from buying safe-haven assets.
The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, jumped 7 basis points to 1.356 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year bond also surged 7 basis points to 1.971 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year gained 6-1/2 basis points to 0.996 percent by 04:30GMT.
Global risk appetite wobbled slightly overnight as US president Trump warned of “plan B for China is to take in billions and billions of dollars a month and we’ll do less and less business with them”, OCBC Treasury Research reported.
This raises the stakes going into the Trump-Xi meeting at the G20 summit this Saturday. S&P500 closed slightly softer while the 10-year UST bond yield rose to 2.05 percent, the report added.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index remained 0.45 percent higher at 6,586.50 by 04:35GMT, while at 040:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained slightly bullish at 81.47 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
