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Australian bonds slumped on Thursday following stronger-than-expected January employment report, boosting confidence among investors that the health of the economy is in good shape. Also, the U.S. Treasury hit highest since January 2014, which also supported the Aussie bond yield.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose 8-1/2 basis points to 2.919 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note also surged 8-1/2 basis points to 3.552 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year up 4 basis points to 2.046 percent by 02:30 GMT.
Australia posted a 16K gain in employment in January 2018 which records the longest streak of employment gains with a 16th consecutive positive print.
However, in the month, hours worked fell 1.4 percent with full-time employment down 49.8K and part-time employment up 65.9K. That comes after a strong 2017 for full-time employment growth and the annual growth rate is still an elevated 3.6 percent.
The unemployment rate fell slightly in January to 5.5 percent from 5.6 percent in December, revised up from 5.5 percent. This came with a decline in the participation rate to 65.6 percent from 65.7 percent.
In the United States, Treasuries saw considerable downward pressure across the curve following the stronger than expected January CPI report that revealed a headline increase of 0.5 percent month-over-month, alongside a core increase of 0.3 percent month-over-month.
That was enough to make an already jittery market unnerved regarding the prospects of a potentially more aggressive Fed over the course of 2018.
This is particularly vexing given the broader market commentary of concern related to potential overheating on the horizon stemming from aggressive fiscal policy amidst a relatively healthy economy.
All of this amounted to pushing the 2-year Note yield to its highest level since September 2008, alongside gains in the 10-year Note yield to its highest level since January 2014.
Markets now look ahead to a greater flow of data on Thursday, highlighted by jobless claims, Philadelphia Fed manufacturing, producer prices, Empire manufacturing and industrial production/capacity utilization releases.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index traded nearly flat at 5,842.5 by 02:30 GMT, while at 02:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained slightly bullish at 80.37 (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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