Bonds in Australia and New Zealand experienced declines following a drop in Treasuries, triggered by a higher-than-expected US inflation report. This development has led traders to reassess their expectations regarding a potential rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Asian stocks, however, saw marginal gains amid the market uncertainty.
The 10-year bond benchmarks in both Australia and New Zealand weakened, pushing yields in Australia to 4.24 per cent. New Zealand’s yields also rose by two basis points. Short-term Treasury yields remained stable in Asian trading after a sharp increase on Thursday, with the two-year note climbing six basis points to 3.73 per cent.
Across Asia, MSCI’s index of Asian shares saw a modest increase of 0.2 per cent. Japan’s Topix Index also performed well, gaining 0.8 per cent, bolstered by the country’s stronger-than-anticipated economic expansion last quarter. The US dollar saw little change after a prior increase of 0.4 per cent. In the technology sector, Intel saw gains in after-hours trading amid discussions of a potential White House stake, while Applied Materials issued a less optimistic forecast. Contracts for the Nasdaq 100 index edged down by 0.2 per cent.
Prior market optimism had been fuelled by expectations of monetary easing in the US. However, the unexpected acceleration in US wholesale inflation for July has caused traders to reduce the likelihood of a September rate cut to approximately 90 per cent, down from near certainty.
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