The credits market saw muted activity last week, given the shortened trading week. Nevertheless, market players were better buyers of bonds. Outright buying was seen from investors chasing the grind lower in benchmark yields. This was exacerbated by positive market sentiment, following the news that US President Donald Trump is considering a pause on auto tariffs. Most of the activity was focused on benchmark 10-Year papers. The week closed quietly, as trading slowed ahead of the holiday. US Treasuries ended steeper last week, with 2-Year Treasuries 10 basis points (bps) lower and 30-Year Treasuries 6 bps higher. Sovereign spreads ended 5 to 10 bps tighter, while corporate spreads closed 8 to 15 bps tighter. Furthermore, Indonesian quasi-sovereign bonds outperformed after being the underperformer for the past few weeks, with their spreads up to 15 bps tighter. Lastly, credit default swap spreads were 1 to 10 bps tighter.

• The US Core Retail Sales printed higher than expected at 0.5% versus a market estimate of 0.4% month-on-month in a Bloomberg survey.
• The US Unemployment Claims was lower than expected at 215,000 versus a market estimate of 225,000 week-on-week in a Bloomberg survey.