Un'asta di 4,5mld di euro di Bobl stamani è andata a schifio
Euro debt-Yields edge up before U.S. CPI data
By George Matlock
LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields edged higher on Wednesday, orbiting above multi-month lows seen earlier this week, as investors were wary before U.S. consumer prices data at 1330 GMT.
U.S. core consumer prices rose by 0.1 percent in October month-on-month, according to a Reuters poll forecast.
The Federal Reserve raised rates a week ago by 25 basis points to 2.0 percent.
At 1210 GMT, the March Euribor futures contract <FEIH5>, a gauge of euro zone interest rates, were softer on Wednesday, down 0.5 basis points at 97.705 and implying three-month money rates at 2.29 percent. The European Central Bank's rate is, like the Fed's, at 2.0 percent.
Earlier, bond prices enjoyed a tonic when the euro scaled a new record high against the dollar <EUR=> of $1.3047 and helped support debt when a German give-year Bobl bond auction was reported slightly disappointing.
Euro-denominated assets, such as euro debt, gain when the currency rises.
"We had been flat or even higher for much of the morning but there is some profit-taking setting in, dragging lower prices," said a trader in Dublin.
The interest rate-sensitive two-year Schatz yield <EU2YT=RR> was up 0.6 basis points at 2.419 percent. On Monday, the contract hit 2.336 percent, a seven month low.
The 10-year Bund yield <EU10YT=RR> was up 2.5 basis points at 3.777 percent. On Tuesday, the Bund hit a 17-month low of 3.727 percent on end-of-year buying as the euro <EUR=> hovered near record highs against the dollar.
The Bobl, the benchmark five-year euro zone bond <EU5YT=RR>, was up 1.3 basis points at 3.089 percent. On Tuesday, the yield struck a three-week low of 3.034 percent intraday.
The five-year Bobl future <FGBMZ4> was down six ticks on the day at 112.66.
Germany sold 4.5 billion euros of five-year government bonds, or Bobls, with a further 496 million euros retained by the Bundesbank. The sale attracted a bid-cover ratio of 1.7. The ratio is a gauge of investor demand.
"The auction was a little disappointing with a cover of just 1.7 times. We had been talking earlier about a cover of two-plus. This is because the euro has gone above $1.30 and the auction came about one hour too late to avoid that. The Bobl was also expensive by about 4 cents to fair value," said Charles Berry, trader, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart.
The December Bund future <FGBLZ4> was down 16 ticks at 117.80.
French non-farm payrolls for the third quarter rose by 0.1 percent, as forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
Final euro zone consumer prices for October were bang in line with the median forecast, rising by 2.4 percent year-on-year.
Euro zone September industrial production growth was higher than forecast, at 2.9 percent and 2.45 percent respectively.
Treasuries outperformed Bunds, with the 10-year yield spread narrowing by two basis points so that T-Notes yielded 50 basis points more than German debt.
The euro swap spread was steady at 12 basis points. ((Reporting by George Matlock;
[email protected]; Reuters Messaging:
[email protected]; +44 20 7542 2508))
--------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1221 GMT------------------
Futures continuous contract basis
FUTURES CASH YIELD
THREE MONTH EURO 97.805 (unch) 2.080 (-0.001)
TWO-YEAR SCHATZ 106.26 (-0.01) 2.414 (-0.000)
10-YEAR BUND 117.78 (-0.18) 3.774 (+0.023)
30-YEAR BUND 4.439 (+0.026)
Current levels versus prior European close
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LAST PREVIOUS
10-YEAR US/BUND SPREAD 50 52
10-YEAR UK/BUND SPREAD 94 93
10-YEAR BTP/BUND SPREAD 14 14
10-YEAR OAT/BUND SPREAD 6 5
10-YEAR AUSTRIA/BUND SPREAD 4 3
10-YEAR BONO/BUND SPREAD 0 1
10-YEAR EURO SWAP SPREAD 12