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Australian bonds slumped Thursday on better-than-expected September employment report, sending the benchmark 10-year bond yields over four basis points. In addition, markets also remained optimistic about the Federal Reserve interest rate hike in December, unpinning the Treasury yields.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose more than 4 basis points to 2.779 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note also climbed nearly 4 basis points to 3.548 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded nearly 3-1/2 basis points higher at 1.952 percent by 03:50GMT.
Australia’s unemployment rate has fallen to 5.5 percent, official figures show, beating market expectations. The total number of people with jobs rose by 19,800 in September compared with the previous month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today. Full-time employment rose by 6100, while the number of new part-time employees was up 13,700. The participation rate, broadly covering the number of people employed or actively looking for work, was steady at 65.2 percent.
Moreover, Australian bonds are followed developments in the U.S. debt market, rising optimism over December Fed interest rate hike pushed the U.S. Treasury yields higher.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.06 percent to 5,872.50 by 04:00 GMT, while at 02:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly AUD Strength Index remained neutral at -2.08 (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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