Aust bonds weaker in volatile trade AUSTRALIAN bond futures prices are lower after overseas stock markets were pulled in opposite directions overnight. In the last 24 hours, Asian and European share markets suffered heavy falls but US stocks were able to resist that trend, to end only slightly lower. The falls came after the release of US Federal Reserve minutes left investors uncertain about when the US central bank would scale back its aggressive bond-buying economic stimulus plan. However, there was some bright news later, with a fall in claims for US unemployment benefits. Westpac senior market strategist Damien McColough said there was a lot of volatility and uncertainty in markets at the moment. "The Australian bond market opened with a little bit of weakness but I don't think that will be extended during the day," he said. I think we'll probably have narrower ranges today. The Australian market is very much influenced by global themes, so, if Tokyo goes through the sort of day it had yesterday, it will definitely feed through into our market. But, it is kind of hard to predict for now. Bonds prices and share prices both fell in the last day, which is a situation that is quite unusual. Usually, they move in opposite directions. Mr McColough said a possible reason is the high level of uncertainty and volatility markets are currently experiencing. He said, because of that, investors have a neutral attitude to buying safe-haven or riskier assets. At 0830 AEST on Friday, the June 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.675 (implying a yield of 3.325 per cent), down from 96.705 (3.295 per cent) on Thursday. The June three-year bond futures contract was at 97.390 (2.610 per cent), down from 97.410 (2.590 per cent).