Australian bond futures prices have fallen on profit-taking, with low volumes accentuating the drop.

CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the fall was surprising, given the lack of major economic news on Friday.

He said the low volume of trades during the Australian trading day may have inflated the movements in contract prices.

“We have noticed today across all markets today fairly low volumes and I suspect that’s one of the drivers here, today,” he said.

Mr McCarthy said investors may also have been taking profits after recent rallies.

“I thought it was quite a surprising rally this week, so there may also be some short-term profit-taking involved in today’s sell-off,” he said.

At 1630 AEST on Friday, the December 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.800 (implying a yield of 3.200 per cent), down from 96.860 (3.140 per cent) on Thursday.

The December three-year bond futures contract was at 97.410 (2.590 per cent), down from 97.500 (2.500 per cent).