Euro zone yields fall as global mood turns more fragile
Euro zone government bond yields dipped on Thursday after a rise in the previous session as global market sentiment turned more negative, pushing investors back to safe havens.
Germany's 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, dropped 2 basis points to 2.48%.
It had risen 5.5 basis points on Wednesday, after a report that the United States was considering cutting its tariffs on Chinese imports pushed investors into stocks.
Investors have increasingly turned to German bonds as safe havens in recent weeks as the picture grows more complicated for U.S. Treasuries.
Also in the mix on Thursday was the Ifo survey showing German business morale unexpectedly rose in April, though uncertainty among companies has increased.
"The improvement in the Ifo in April may be another sign that tariff front-loading, which was also mentioned by PMI respondents, supported activity somewhat in April," Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics, said.
"Nevertheless, the big picture remains that the German economy is still very weak."
That followed data on Wednesday that pointed to stalling business activity growth in the euro zone area this month.
U.S. President Donald Trump's global tariffs have whipsawed markets, and potential signs of easing in trade tensions had come as a relief to investors.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that high tariffs between the United States and China were not sustainable, as President Trump's administration signalled openness to de-escalating a trade war between the world's two largest economies that has raised fears of recession.
A spokesman for China's commerce ministry separately said that the United States should lift all unilateral tariff measures against China if it "truly" wanted a resolution.
In response to the reports about talks between China and the U.S., a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday they have not held consultations or negotiations on tariffs.
Italy's 10-year yield was lower by 4 bps at 3.59%, and the gap between Italian and German 10-year bonds narrowed to 110 bps.
France's 10-year government bond yield fell 3 bps to 3.21%. French consumer confidence steadied in April, data showed on Thursday.
Germany's 2-year bond yield, which is more sensitive to European Central Bank rate expectations, dropped 3 bps to 1.70%. Money markets expect the ECB's main rate at nearly 1.6% in December.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Stefano Rebaudo; Editing by Timothy Heritage, William Maclean and Andrew Heavens)
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