New Zealand bonds rally at close on signal from softer dairy supply outlook amid muted trading session

New Zealand government bonds rallied at the time of closing Thursday on continuing signal from a subdued dairy supply outlook despite an improvement in the global dairy prices at the country’s latest GlobalDairyTrade Price auction held lately. Elsewise, trading remained sideways as investors refrained from engaging in any major trading activity amid a muted session.

At the time of closing, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, hovered around 2.80 percent, the yield on 20-year slumped 2-1/2 basis points to 3.28 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year ended 2 basis points lower at 1.94 percent.

The Global Dairy Trade Price Index (GDT) gained 2.2 percent at the first auction of the year, after the world’s biggest dairy processor, Fonterra, dropped its forecast for NZ milk collection last week for the second time in as many months. The average selling price was of NZD3,124 per tonne, with prices for whole milk powder - the most widely traded product - posting the strongest gain, 4.2 percent.

Auckland-based Fonterra revised its forecast for its New Zealand milk collection for the current 2017-18 season to 1480 million kilograms of milk solids, down 3 percent from the 1525 million kgMS it collected in the 2016-17 season, it said.

Meanwhile, the NZX 50 index closed 0.22 percent higher at 8,443.50, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly NZD Strength Index remained slightly bullish at 75.78 (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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