Daily market wrap - Westpac

Imre Speizer, Head of NZ Strategy at Westpac, shares the summary of the daily market wrap with key quotes found below.

Global market sentiment: US bond yields rose further, as the US tax bill cleared both the House and Senate. The US dollar remained subdued.

Interest rates: US 10yr treasury yields rose from 2.44% to 2.50% - the highest since March, while 2yr yields initially rose from 1.85% to 1.87% (a fresh nine-year high) before retracing to 1.85%. Fed fund futures yields fell slightly, pricing the chance of another rate hike in March at 56%. The yield curve slope steepened, the 2-10yr at 63bp which is the steepest since mid-Nov.

Currencies: The US dollar index is 0.2% lower on the day. Outperformer EUR extended a multi-day rally from 1.1840 to 1.1902. USD/JPY also extended a multi-day rally, from 113.00 to 113.36. AUD nudged higher from 0.7660 to 0.7679, as did NZD from 0.6960 to 0.6988. AUD/NZD initially rose to 1.1013 – a two-week high – before retracing to 1.0980.