Aust bonds strengthen after GDP data December 4, 2013 - 4:58PM Australian bond futures prices rallied as traders fled to safe haven assets after the release of some patchy local economic growth figures. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 0.6 per cent in the September quarter, for an annual rate of 2.3 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. There were expectations that GDP would be stronger after the release of some surprisingly good exports and company earnings data in the past couple of days. Ms McHugh said another reason why the Australian bond market rallied was because of nervousness ahead of the US November non-farm payrolls data to be released on Friday - the key American employment indicator. The data is expected to give investors a better picture on the timing of the winding back of the US central bank's bond buying program that is designed to stimulate the economy.