Australian bond futures prices are slightly lower on a day of low trading volumes with no local economic data to give investors direction.

Westpac senior market strategist Damien McColough said the local bond market is likely to trade quietly over the next couple of weeks as the market awaits the release of September quarter inflation data on October 24.

“So we’re going to be in one of those fortnights where we are at the whims of global market sentiment,” he said.

“That will see us taking most of out leads overnight and consolidating during the day and that’s basically what happened.”

At 1630 AEDT on Friday, the December 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.060 (implying a yield of 2.940 per cent), down from 97.065 (2.935 per cent) on Thursday.

The December three-year bond futures contract was at 97.620 (2.380 per cent), down from 97.640 (2.360 per cent).

During the offshore session on Friday, the US Producer Price Index for September will be released. It is an indicator for inflation as it measures the price of goods at the farm or factory gate before transport and other costs are added.

The University of Michigan consumer confidence survey for October will also be released.