Australia 10-year bond yield drops 7 basis points

Australian government bond yields are feeling the pull of gravity, courtesy of weaker-than-expected Aussie fourth quarter GDP release. 

As of writing, the benchmark 10-year yield is seen at 2.12 percent, having hit a low of 2.10 percent a few minutes ago. At that level, the yield was down seven basis points on the day. 

The official data released at 00:30 GMT showed the economy expanded by 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in three months to December 2018, missing the estimate of a 0.3 percent growth. 

Further, the per capita GDP - which strips out the impact of population growth - contracted 0.2 percent, having declined 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, in the previous quarters. 

Put simply, the Australian economy has entered recession for the first time since 20016, according to per capita GDP.