Will the Aussie yield curve invert?

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Australian bonds have been moving very sharply in recent times buffeted by lackluster domestic growth and externally by falling commodity prices. We’ve seen record low yields across the curve:

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The two year has priced one and a half rate cuts. Just as interesting, the yield curve has been “flattening”, jargon for when short and long terms yields begin to converge:

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The current slope between the 2 and 10 year isn’t remarkable at 48bps, though the trend is sharply down, and last week it reached a low of 37bps before rebounding on oil. But it’s an interesting question what it would take for the curve to invert, which is classically regarded as a signal of approaching recession.

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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.