The Australian dollar held broadly firm in thin trade on Tuesday while bond futures slumped to six-month lows as a rout in US Treasuries on some bets for faster economic recovery pressured sovereign debt markets. The Aussie hovered around $0.8877, having rallied over a cent from last week's low of $0.8733 to bump up against its 100-day moving average at $0.8883.
Yet traders cautioned that the currency needed to clear a chart barrier at $0.8911 to counter the bear trend of the past few weeks, otherwise it might resume its decline toward $0.8566. The Aussie did better against a generally soft yen to trade at 81.42, up from a low of 78.59 last week but still short of resistance around 81.65 and 82.00.
Currencies were quiet overall with many investors on holiday, but there was plenty of action in bonds where US Treasuries extended their recent sell-off to shatter major chart ranges. The US 10-year yield hit 3.85 percent, a rise of 70 basis points since late November, while two-year yields jumped to a four-month peak of 1.09 percent.
The scale and speed of the move puzzled dealers since there had been relatively little new economic data out. "It's hard to know if (this is) just linked to the illiquid year-end conditions or a sign of a major change in sentiment," said a trader at an Australian bank. "On the face of it, such a rise in yields would suggest investors are betting on a stronger economic recovery next year and an early move from the Federal Reserve," he added.