Euro debt-Yields fall, German data and strong euro buoy prices
By Ana Nicolaci da Costa
LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields extended losses on Thursday while the December Bund future rose to new contract-highs on the back of weak German growth data, a strong euro and thin holiday trade.
This also drove Euribor interest rate futures to their highest in over a week, as the possibility of a rate hike by the European Central Bank looked further away, even after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates in the previous session.
"The U.S. is closed today, there is extremely little volume. This helps explain why moves have been quite so big," said Jon Lee, interest rate strategist at Barclays Capital in London.
"It's an overreaction to the weaker German data and the continued strength of the euro. The euro is hovering around very high levels. These kind of levels damage growth in the euro zone and certainly export-led growth."
At 1629 GMT, the benchmark 10-year Bund yield <EU10YT=RR> slid 5.2 basis points to 3.82 percent, having hit its lowest level in two weeks at 3.81 percent.
The December Bund future meanwhile was 49 ticks higher on the day at 117.42, having hit a contract-high at 117.48.
News that Germany's economy grew just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.3 percent increase, combined with the euro <EUR=> hovering around the $1.29 level to fuel the view that euro zone interest rates were unlikely to rise soon, boosting bonds.
The boost was exaggerated, analysts said, by thin volumes, with the U.S. Treasury market closed for Veterans Day.
"Some stops have been triggered in the Bund and therefore we have been trading up very fast," said a trader in Frankfurt. "Today we only have 50 percent of the normal volume going through so it is easier to get the market up and to have some distortion in the market."
The interest rate sensitive two-year Schatz yield <EU2YT=RR> was 1.2 basis point lower at 2.39 percent.
The March Euribor <FEIH5> futures contract, a market barometer of euro zone rate expectations, was up 4 basis points at 97.730, having earlier hit 97.750, its highest since November 1.
The bond market seemed to brush off the much anticipated quarter point rise in U.S. rates to 2.0 percent on Wednesday and Federal Reserve comments reiterating a commitment to 'measured' rate hikes.
News that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in a French hospital earlier on Thursday had little impact on the safe-haven bond market. Arafat had suffered a brain haemorrhage on Tuesday.
Comments by European Central Bank officials also helped bond prices. The ECB said in its monthly bulletin that high oil prices are worrying but that there still was no strong sign of euro zone inflation accelerating in the medium term.
Later, Nicholas Garganas, a member of the ECB's governing council, said the ECB is not considering any interest rate increases at the present moment.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet spoke but made no reference to foreign exchange or current economic conditions.
Bunds outperformed Treasuries, with the 10-year yield gap 5 basis points wider at 48 basis points, at its widest level in almost 5 months. The 10-year euro swap spread was 43 basis points compared to 43.25 basis points on Wednesday. ((Reporting by Ana Nicolaci da Costa;
[email protected]; Reuters Messaging:
[email protected]; +4420 7542 2575; editing by David Christian-Edwards))
--------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1657 GMT ------------------
Futures continuous contract basis
FUTURES CASH YIELD
THREE MONTH EURO 97.810 (+0.010) 2.079 (-0.002)
TWO-YEAR SCHATZ 106.32 (+0.13) 2.386 (-0.017)
10-YEAR BUND 117.48 (+0.55) 3.809 (-0.063)
30-YEAR BUND 4.481 (-0.044)
Current levels versus prior European close
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LAST PREVIOUS
10-YEAR US/BUND SPREAD 48 43
10-YEAR UK/BUND SPREAD 93 94
10-YEAR BTP/BUND SPREAD 14 15
10-YEAR OAT/BUND SPREAD 5 5
10-YEAR AUSTRIA/BUND SPREAD 3 4
10-YEAR BONO/BUND SPREAD 0 0
10-YEAR EURO SWAP SPREAD 11