New Zealand 10-year bond yields hit over 3-week low on safe-haven demand following global uncertainties

The New Zealand 10-year bond yields hit over 3-week low on Friday as investors poured into safe-haven assets amid ongoing political and global financial uncertainties.

At the time of closing, the yield on the benchmark 10-year bond, which moves inversely to its price, slumped 6-1/2 basis points to 2.99 percent, the yield on 7-year note also plunged 6-1/2 basis points to 2.65 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year note too traded 6 basis points lower at 1.98 percent.

The RBNZ left the OCR on hold at its latest May policy review. However, the accompanying policy statement and interest rate projection were a bit more dovish than we and markets had been expecting.

The latest REINZ report shows that the housing market remained subdued in April. The house price index rose 0.4 percent in seasonally adjusted terms, following a 0.3 percent fall in March.

The year-on-year increase in house prices slowed further to 7.8 percent, the lowest since September 2014. And even that number understates the degree to which the market has cooled: most of the increase occurred in the first four months of that period. The Auckland market has cooled even more markedly: prices are effectively flat since last July.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index traded 0.50 percent lower at 7,452.38 by 05:30GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly NZD Strength Index remained neutral at -60.48 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex