German bunds mixed after Ifo business morale index falls in January, government slashes 2019 growth forecast

The German bunds remained narrowly mixed during European session Friday after the country’s business sentiment index showed a decline during the month of January and the government slashed its 2019 growth forecast.

The German 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to its price, rose nearly 1 percent to 0.185 percent, the yield on 30-year note hovered around 0.776 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year jumped 1-1/2 basis points to -0.578 percent by 10:20GMT.

German business morale fell for the fifth consecutive month in January to 99.1, a survey by the Munich-based Ifo economic institute showed on Friday, signaling a downturn in Europe's largest economy where company executives became pessimistic about future business for the first time since 2012.

Further, if reports are to be believed, the German government has downgraded the country’s 2019 growth forecast to 1.0 percent from prior 1.8 percent owing to slowdown in global economic growth and uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 1.12 percent to 10,461.93 by 10:20GMT, while at 10:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained slightly bearish at -80.92 (higher than +75 represents bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex