Australian bond yields rose sharply on Thursday as the market increasingly speculated that the Australian Federal Reserve might raise interest rates as early as February. The government bond yield curve rose 4-6 basis points across the board, with 3-year treasury bond futures leading the way, trading at the highest level since mid-January. The yield difference between US 10-year Treasury bonds and Australian 10-year Treasury bonds widened by about 5 basis points to 62 basis points. Su-Lin Ong, chief economist at Jiahuang Capital Markets, said that the financial market already reflected expectations of an interest rate hike of about 5 basis points until February, and the market did not reflect any expectations of interest rate hikes at the time of opening. She added: “The bulls are confessing defeat. Today, overseas investors also asked me about the possibility of interest rate hikes in February.”

Australian bond yields rose sharply on Thursday as the market increasingly speculated that the Australian Federal Reserve might raise interest rates as early as February. The government bond yield curve rose 4-6 basis points across the board, with 3-year treasury bond futures leading the way, trading at the highest level since mid-January. The yield difference between US 10-year Treasury bonds and Australian 10-year Treasury bonds widened by about 5 basis points to 62 basis points. Su-Lin Ong, chief economist at Jiahuang Capital Markets, said that the financial market already reflected expectations of an interest rate hike of about 5 basis points until February, and the market did not reflect any expectations of interest rate hikes at the time of opening. She added: “The bulls are confessing defeat. Today, overseas investors also asked me about the possibility of interest rate hikes in February.”