German bunds jump ahead of ECB President Draghi’s speech

The German bunds jumped Thursday as investors look forward to the European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi’s speech, scheduled to be held later today.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond, which moves inversely to its price, slumped nearly 4 basis points to 0.34 percent, the long-term 30-year bond yields plunged 3 basis points to 1.17 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year bond traded 1 basis point lower at -0.69 percent by 08:50 GMT.

The latest final Eurozone CPI inflation reading for April was confirmed at 1.9 percent, in line with the flash rate, and compared with a rate of 1.5 percent the previous month. The core inflation rate was also confirmed at 1.2 percent from 0.7 percent previously with both figures in line with consensus expectations.

In addition, the overall increase for industrial goods outside the energy sector held steady at 0.3 percent. The services sector inflation rate, however, increased sharply to 1.8 percent from 1.0 percent previously and compared with a 0.9 percent recorded for April 2016.

Meanwhile, the German stock index DAX Index fell 0.46 percent to 12,577.00 by 09:10 GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained neutral at 21.34 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex