German bunds nearly flat in silent trading hours ahead of February ZEW economic sentiment

The German bunds remained nearly flat during afternoon session Monday amid a muted trading day that witnessed data of little economic significance ahead of the country’s ZEW economic sentiment for the month of February, scheduled to be released on February 18 by 10:00GMT.

The German 10-year bond yield, which move inversely to its price, hovered around 0.403 percent, the long-term 30-year yield remained flat at 0.115 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year too remained steady at -0.656 percent by 11:15GMT.

A key data focus in the euro area this week will be Friday’s flash PMIs for February. While the manufacturing survey implied some stabilisation in the sector at the start of the year, the subsequent increase of downside risks to the global outlook in light of the coronavirus outbreak looks set to have weighed on sentiment in the sector over the past month, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.

Meanwhile, the services PMI is also expected to post a further modest deterioration in conditions this month. As such, the composite PMI will surely take a step down from the five-month high (51.3) reached in January, the report added.

While the impact of the coronavirus on household sentiment will be more limited for now, the Commission’s flash estimate of consumer confidence (due Thursday) is expected to show no improvement in February, with the index set to move sideways at a level that was last weaker in 2016, Daiwa further noted in the report.

Meanwhile, the German DAX traded tad 0.21 percent higher at 13,773.12 by 11:20GMT.