Aust bonds firmer amid more Syria talk August 30, 2013 - 9:30AM The Australian bond market has opened slightly firmer as traders play things safe until there is a clear resolution on the Syria crisis. The US plans to attack Syria in punishment for using chemical weapons on its own citizens. Britain had planned to join the US action, but the British Parliament overnight defeated a non-binding resolution calling for military intervention. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is discussing the matter. Westpac senior market strategist Damien McColough expects bond markets to stay quiet until there is a clearer picture on what will happen. "We're probably still trading Syria at the moment," he said. There's not a lot of other things to keep the market's attention right now. That's the only thing we're really talking about now. Mr McColough said talk about Syria even overshadowed some very positive US economic growth data released late on Thursday night (AEST). US gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the 12 months to June was 2.5 per cent, better than the original estimate of 1.7 per cent. There was very little bond markets reaction to the data. At 0830 AEST on Friday, the September 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.100 (implying a yield of 3.900 per cent), up from 96.090 (3.910 per cent) on Thursday.