US Treasury curve ended higher and steeper, reacting to the US NFP release on Friday. The Dec job data was disappointing with job gains of 156k, lower th

Market Roundup

• US Treasury curve ended higher and steeper, reacting to the US NFP release on Friday. The Dec job data was disappointing with job gains of 156k, lower than 175k projected earlier. However, on the positive side, average hourly wages rose by 2.9% on a yoy basis during the same period. In addition, the unemployment rate ticked up by 0.1% to 4.7% in Dec, but was affected by more people looking for work and with hourly wages ticking higher is a major positive to the economy.
• USD/JPY revisited 117.00, with USD boosted by US earnings growth for the month of Dec, despite weaker-than-expected job gains reported on Friday. On the other hand, EUR/USD slipped to 1.0532, from around 1.0600 in the earlier session. Regional currencies ended little changes ahead of the weekend. USD/THB was traded within narrow range before closing at 35.737 on Friday. As for USD/IDR, it inched higher to 13370, from 13367 registered a day prior.
• Malaysian government bonds posted gains amid positive sentiment ahead of weekend. Apart from the well-supported crude oil prices, we reckon that the positive sentiment was partially aided by firmer Ringgit, alongside other EM currencies post FOMC minutes release. As for Malaysia’s macro data, both exports and imports registered positive surprises with growth rates of 7.8% and 11.2% yoy respectively in Nov, above consensus 2.5% and 2.9% yoy. These trade numbers translated to a surplus of RM9.03 billion during the same period, through lower than RM9.76 billion in Oct.
• Thai sovereign bonds were dealt weaker on Friday, as sentiment turned cautious ahead of US NFP release. Meantime, daily volume increased from Bt8.7 billion to Bt11.3 billion, led by short dated LB176A and LB226A. Elsewhere, USD/THB moved in narrow range between 35.65-35.75 and hovered at 35.73 late Friday.
• Indonesian government bond market traded lower in price on profit taking action on Friday, as yields along the belly to longer end of the curve went up by 5-8 bps. However buyers were still seen across the 3- to 5-year tenors, aggressively buying FR69, FR53 and FR61, sending yields on those tenors down by 5-10 bps, steepening yield curve. US jobs data will have potential to set the tone for this week. Volume fell a bit to IDR10.8 trillion and dominated by bonds maturing in between 5 – 10 years (32%) and in over 10 years (40%).