THE Australian bond market has closed weaker as a positive US jobs report prompted a selloff of fixed income securities. At 1630 AEDT on Monday, the March 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.445 (implying a yield of 3.555 per cent), down from Friday's local close of 96.480 (3.520 per cent). The March three-year bond futures contract was at 97.025 (2.975 per cent), down from 97.070 (2.930 per cent) previously. During the day, the three-year bond futures contract traded below 97.000 for the first time since April 2012. Australian bonds, like US Treasuries, were sold off on Friday night (AEDT) in response to a better than expected US jobs report, which showed the world's largest economy added 236,000 jobs in February, well above market expectations of a 160,000 gain. The Australian market traded with a weak tone throughout the local session, with investors willing to let bond futures prices drift lower while there was a lack of consensus on the future direction of interest rates. RBC Capital Markets fixed income strategist Michael Turner said bond markets would find support and rally if there was a broad expectation the central bank was going to resume cutting interest rates. "There are not too many people willing to start offering too much support at these levels just yet until there is a clear rate cut from the Reserve Bank to come," Mr Turner said. That's probably not going to be for another couple of months. We are just leaking lower in the meantime. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has kept the cash rate steady at three per cent at its past two board meetings. The RBA board next meets on Tuesday April 2 and futures markets were pricing in a 24 per cent chance of a rate cut to 2.75 per cent.