Coal, Stoking The Fire

There was little in the way of meaningful activity in the Aussie Bond space, with YM unchanged and XM +0.5. The cash curve is flatter at the margins.

• Most of today's focus has gone into assessments surrounding Sino-Aussie coal trade matters. A story that generated little interest when it hit on Friday is receiving more focus during the early part of this week. To recap, Platts sources suggested that "state-owned utilities and steel mills in China received verbal notice from China's customs to stop importing Australian thermal and coking coal with immediate effect." This would of course represent the latest blow to Sino-Aussie relations. Australian Trade Minister Birmingham has noted that the government has contacted China as it looks to assess the validity of the reports.
• Bills sit unchanged to -1 through the reds.
• Local Westpac consumer confidence data is due Wednesday, with A$2.5bn worth of ACGB 1.25% 21 May 2032 supply also due.