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Precious Metals Rally as Silver and Platinum Outperform on Rate Cut Bets 
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Australian government bonds slipped on Thursday as the U.S. Treasury yields rose to 9-month highs on optimism over U.S. tax cut, which would help boost growth and other economic data.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose 2 basis points to 2.667 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note surged over 3 basis points to 3.397 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year climbed 1-1/2 basis points to 1.981 percent by 03:30 GMT.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval to the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in 30 years overnight, sending a sweeping $1.5 trillion bill to President Donald Trump for his signature. Many investors expect that tax cuts will help spur investment and spending that will, in turn, boost the economy and increase stubbornly low inflation, Reuters reported.
On the other hand, the RBA’s policymakers in the meeting minutes released this week said that recent data had increased confidence that there would be further progress on fronts such as unemployment, inflation and household debt in 2018. The central bank added that wage growth appeared to have stabilized at a low rate and is expected to pick up over time. In addition, data suggested above-average jobs growth in next few quarters and output growth is still expected to pick up gradually.
The central bank said that the outlook for household consumption continued to be a significant risk given that household incomes were growing slowly and debt levels were high. They left the continued fret that an appreciating exchange rate would be expected to result in a slower pick-up in domestic economic activity and inflation than currently forecasted.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded nearly flat at 6,017.5 by 03:30 GMT, while at 03:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained slightly bullish at +97.35 (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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