The New Zealand government bonds remained modestly weak on the last trading day of the week, observing a relatively subdued trading session amid mild selling in the U.S. Treasures across the curve, following the 30-year bond auction that concluded on Thursday.
Also, investors are curiously eyeing the release of New Zealand consumer inflation data scheduled for release next week, for further clarity on the movement in the country’s money market.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond, which moves inversely to its price, rose 1-1/2 basis points to 3.14 percent, the yield on 7-year note also climbed nearly 2 basis points to 2.81 percent and the yield on the short-term 5-year note moved 1-1/2 basis points higher to 2.55 percent by 05:50GMT.
The New Zealand bonds have been closely following movements in the U.S. debt market. The U.S. benchmark 10-year bond yields jumped 8 basis points to 2.38 percent, from yesterday’s low of 2.30 percent.
Moreover, slow buying activity was observed as investors slightly maintained their appetite in riskier crude oil. The International benchmark Brent futures fell 0.04 percent to USD55.99 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 0.02 percent to USD53.02 by 05:55 GMT.
Lastly, at Fonterra's GlobalDairyTrade auction last week, the GDT price index fell 3.9 percent to USD3,463, down from USD3,656 at the previous auction two weeks ago. Some 22,396 tonnes of product was sold, edging up from 22,321 tonnes at the previous auction. Whole milk powder dropped 7.7 percent to USD3,294 a tonne.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX50 Index closed 0.24 percent lower at 7,046.97, while at 5:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly NZD Strength Index remained highly bullish at 145.22 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
