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Australian government bonds slumped on Wednesday as investors preferred riskier assets following a rise in Westpac’s consumer sentiment for January. Also, markets awaited December employment report, which would allow the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to decide on future interest rate path.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose 1 basis point to 2.761 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note climbed 1/2 basis point to 3.446 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year up 1-1/2 basis points to 2.089 percent by 03:50 GMT.
Australia Confidence levels jumped again in January. The headline Consumer Sentiment Index rose 1.8% to 105.1, hitting the highest level since December 2013. A reading of 100 is deemed neutral, meaning the number of optimists and pessimists are equal. A reading above 100, as was seen in January, means there were more optimists than pessimists in the latest survey.
Moreover, Australian employment report for December are due on Thursday and another upbeat result would likely see the odds narrow further. Market expectations are for a rise of about 15K in employment with the unemployment rate remaining unchanged at 5.4 percent.
In the United States, Treasuries remained rangebound on Tuesday during a relatively quiet session light on data of great significance. On the data front, markets received slightly weaker than expected Empire manufacturing data for January. Markets now look ahead to a greater flow of data on Wednesday, highlighted by industrial production/capacity utilization, Beige Book and TIC flows data throughout the session.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded 0.13 percent higher at 5,969.5 by 03:50 GMT, while at 03:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained neutral at 31.24 (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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