The New Zealand government bonds closed modestly lower Friday, succumbing to thin trading activity during a relatively quiet session that witnessed data of little significance. However, investors will remain focused on the upcoming United States employment data, which is scheduled to be released on Friday at 12:30 GMT.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond, which moves inversely to its price, rose 1/2 basis point to 2.285 percent and the yield on 7-year note also ended 1/2 basis point higher at 1.995 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note climbed 1/2 basis point to 1.865 percent.
The market now waits for the Friday's US jobs data as it could be used to anticipate the Fed's most likely step to raise the interest rate. The August Labour Department employment situation report will be released on Friday at 12:30 GMT.
We foresee that the overall non-farm payrolls will increase +180k in August, higher than the market expectations of +175k increase, as compared to the +255k reading seen in July, alongside a decrease in the unemployment rate to 4.8 percent, in the line of market expectations for 4.8 percent result.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX50 Index closed up 2.95 points to 7,426.11.
