German bunds nearly flat in muted session after August import-export price index disappoints

The German bunds remained nearly flat during European trading session Friday amid silent trading hours that witnessed data of little economic significance after the country’s import-export price index disappointed market investors, worsening from the previous reading in July.  

The German 10-year bond yield, which move inversely to its price, hovered around -0.574 percent, the yield on 30-year note edged tad nearly 1 basis point up to -0.132 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year too traded flat at -0.738 percent by 10:10GMT.

It will be a busy end to the week for euro area economic data releases, with perhaps most noteworthy the European Commission’s September business and consumer surveys, which arguably offer the most comprehensive guide to economic activity in the euro area, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.

While the flash consumer confidence survey reversed the decline seen in August, the flash PMIs earlier this week suggest that business confidence took a notable turn for the worse in September, the report added.

So, the headline economic sentiment indicator is likely to weaken in September, to leave the quarterly average at its lowest since Q215. Italy’s ISTAT business and consumer sentiment surveys are also due, Daiwa further noted.

Meanwhile, the German DAX edged nearly 1 percent higher to 12,393.63 by 10:15GMT.