German bunds bounce ahead of ECB President Draghi’s speech, retail sales

The German government bunds bounced Thursday ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi’s speech scheduled for later in the day. Also, investors are looking forward to the release of December retail sales data due on Friday.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond, which moves inversely to its price, fell 3 basis points to 0.46 percent, the long-term 30-year bond yields also fell 1/2 basis point to 1.20 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year bond plunged 2-1/2 basis s to -0.73 percent by 09:10 GMT.

Germany's Federal Statistics Office said the unemployment rate dipped to a seasonally adjusted 5.9 percent this month from 6.0 percent in December. Analysts expected the jobless rate to hold steady in January. Further, the number of unemployed people declined by a seasonally adjusted 26,000 from a month earlier, compared to forecasts for a drop of 5,000. Jobless claims fell by 20,000 in December.

German retail sales dropped unexpectedly in December, down 0.9 percent from November, a possible sign that the deadly terror attack at a busy Berlin Christmas market kept many shoppers away from the shopping centres.

Meanwhile, the German stock index DAX Index traded 0.37 percent lower at 11,615.30 by 09:20 GMT, while at 9:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained neutral at -17.86 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex