New Zealand bonds close mixed ahead of Q2 employment, June trade balance data

New Zealand bonds closed Tuesday’s session on a mixed tone as investors are keeping a close eye on the country’s employment report for the second quarter of this year, besides the trade balance for the month of June, both scheduled to be released today by 22:45GMT respectively.

At the time of closing, the yield on the benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, rose 1-1/2 basis points to 2.85 percent, the yield on the long-term 20-year note slipped 1 basis point to 3.14 percent while the yield on short-term 2-year closed flat at 1.85 percent.

As economic data cues were few and far between yesterday, market players focused more on the speculation that the BoJ would tweak its policy to make it more sustainable which could affect its foreign demand for UST bonds, OCBC Daily Treasury Research reported.

S&P500 closed higher on the back of financial shares and current earnings optimism (note Alphabet rose 3.7 percent in after-market trading), whereas the 10-year UST bonds sold off to push the yield up to 2.96 percent (highest in five weeks) on expectations that the FOMC will push on with a rate hike in September notwithstanding Trump’s criticism.

Meanwhile, the NZX 50 index closed 0.32 percent higher at 8,901.32, while at 06:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly NZD Strength Index remained neutral at -36.27 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex