Curve a touch flatter to start the.....>

AUSSIE BONDS: Curve a touch flatter to start the week, although much like U.S.

T-Notes, XM seems reluctant to convincingly push through Friday's highs, for

now. YM +0.5, XM +1.5. Aus 10s sit ~2.5bp wider vs. U.S. 10s in early trade this

week. Bills sit unchanged to +1 through the reds.

- Weekend news flow saw a former Australian Ambassador to China play down the

chances of a Sino-Australian trade war, while China's nationalist Global Times

suggested that "Australia is waging an intensifying espionage offensive against

China - sending agents to China to spy, gather intelligence and recruit assets,

instigating defection among Chinese nationals, spying on Chinese students and

organizations in Australia & feeding fake news to media."

- In terms of the Victoria COVID-19 situation, the local government noted that

it will enforce mandatory testing for returning travellers and could move to

place some of the hot-spot suburbs back into lockdown, if deemed necessary.

- The latest ABS "Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey" is due to be released

later today.