HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian dollar debt were steady to slightly weaker in thin trade on Monday, after long-term US Treasury yields had jumped on Friday when solid job growth for March reaffirmed expectations of more US interest rates rises.
Analysts expect trade to be light ahead of the Easter holiday and the release of March US retail sales data on Thursday.
A Hong Kong-based fund manager said regional high-grade debt should perform in line with the Treasuries, but high-yield sovereign paper, especially those from the Philippines, may face some pressure as they have been outperforming the market.
''Brazil has come off massively. The Philippines is outperforming big time. Some of the Philippine paper are getting expensive,'' the fund manager said.
He noted bonds from Manila were trading flat to Brazil, which is rated BB, one notch higher than the Southeast Asian country.
The fund manager said although Philippine sovereign dollar bonds were expensive to foreign investors, they still offered better yield pick-up than peso bonds, and domestic players were selling peso debt and buying dollar paper.
Philippine sovereign dollar bonds were unchanged on Monday.
Prices on the 2016 bonds were quoted at 107.50/107.75, while its 2031 bonds were at 100/100.25.
Five-year Philippine credit default swaps--insurance-like contracts that offer protection against debt default or restructuring--were unchanged at 189/196 basis points.
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