Very Tight Ranges For Core FI Markets

T-Notes have operated in a very narrow 0-01+ thus far, last printing +0-00+ at 132-20+, with yields little changed across the cash Tsy curve. There has been nothing of note on the broader macro headline front. Comments from Kansas City Fed President George ('21 non-voter) had no impact on the space, while the limited round of COVID cases evident in China & Australia have failed to generate a reaction given the the respective track records in containing the virus.

• JGB futures nudged higher early on in Tokyo, but bulls failed to force a notable break through the overnight session peak, with the contract now only +2 on the day, operating within the confines of a narrow range. The major benchmarks in the cash JGB space trade little changed to 0.5bp richer. There was little in the way of meaningful headline flow for participants to trade off.
• Aussie bond futures have stuck to tight ranges, leaving YM -0.5 and XM +0.5 on the day. The Greater Melbourne area has re-introduced some COVID restrictions given the 5 cases discovered over the past 24 hours or so, with the cases being linked back to the South Australian hotel quarantine outbreak. The restrictions are not as draconian as a full-scale lockdown. The restrictions go into play this evening, remaining in place until at least 4 June. On the domestic front, the latest round of ABS payrolls data saw a modest downtick in the headline figures, with the ABS noting that "in early May, payroll jobs were 1.5% above pre-pandemic levels and 1.5% lower than the end of March 2021." No real surprises there given the downtick in the headline reading in April's labour market report. The ABS noted that "the end of JobKeeper, seasonality in the labour market around Easter and short-term restrictions in some states may influence payroll job levels in the weeks between the end of March and 8 May 2021," once again providing no surprises. Elsewhere, the preliminary round of trade data pointed to stable Australian exports in the month of April, although imports fell by the best part of A$2.0bn vs. March, per the release. The pricing of A$500mn of SAFA '32 paper had no impact on the space.