Australian bonds jump on deterioration in geopolitical climate; RBA’s May policy meeting minutes eyed

Australian government bonds jumped during Asian trading session Tuesday as investors moved towards safe-haven assets following a degrading geopolitical condition surrounding the trade negotiations between the United States and China.

Investors shall now be looking forward to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) May monetary policy meeting minutes, scheduled to be released today by 01:30GMT for further direction in the debt market.

The yield on Australia’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, slumped nearly 3-1/2 basis points to 1.649 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year bond suffered nearly 3 basis points to 2.295 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded nearly 2 basis points lower at 1.243 percent by 05:350GMT.

It was a defensive start to the week for risk appetite, which remained under pressure as investors reacted to negative headlines around the implications of US-China trade negotiations. Technology stocks, in particular, took a hit, after the US moved against Chinese telecom Huawei, ANZ Research reported.

Market attention is focused on PMI data from a range of countries to see if the recent deteriorating geopolitical climate has weighed on current activity, new orders and the future outlook – especially in the manufacturing sector, the report added.

"The tension between US and China may ease slightly today after US officials said it would grant 90-day reprieve from penalties to Huawei and its subsidiaries. Meanwhile, Google which signals plans to cut access to its Android system featured on new Huawei phones may put its plan on hold for now," OCBC Treasury Research commented.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.79 percent to trade at 6,498.5 by 05:35GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained highly bearish at -101.87 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex