German bunds jump despite tad rise in February manufacturing PMI

The German bunds jumped as investors have largely shrugged-off the country’s higher-than-expected manufacturing PMI for the month of February, released today.

The German 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to its price, slumped 2-1/2 basis points to 0.63 percent, the yield on 30-year note plunged 3 basis points to 1.28 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year too traded nearly 2 basis points lower at -0.54 percent by 09:20GMT.

The headline IHS Markit/BME Germany Manufacturing PMI – a single-figure snapshot of the performance of the manufacturing economy – dipped to 60.6 in February, from January’s 61.1. The latest reading was well above the 50.0 no-change mark, indicating another month of strong growth within the sector. However, since reaching a record-high at the end of 2017, the PMI has retreated for two consecutive months, down to its lowest level since last October.

"Export growth has meanwhile lost momentum, easing to the lowest for seven months, not helped by manufacturers upping their prices and the recent strengthening of the euro. All these factors have weighed on business expectations for the year ahead, though the general view among manufacturers remains that output will continue to rise over the course of 2018," said Phil Smith, Principal Economist at IHS Markit.

Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 1.00 percent to 12,315.50 by 09:25GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained neutral at -20.29 (higher than +75 represents bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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