German bunds rise slightly ahead of ECB’s monetary policy decision, Eurozone Q4 GDP

The German bunds slightly rose during European session Wednesday ahead of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) monetary policy meeting, due to be held on March 7 by 12:45GMT, besides, the eurozone’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of 2018, scheduled to be released on the same day by 10:00GMT, which will add further direction to the debt market.

The German 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to its price, fell 1-1/2 basis points to 0.151 percent, the yield on 30-year note also slipped nearly 1-1/2 basis points to 0.791 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year suffered 1 basis point to trade at -0.511 percent by 09:50GMT.

Looking ahead – in the absence of any leaks from the ECB on what to expect from the Governing Council tomorrow – today is set to be uneventful for economic news from the euro area and UK, with no top-tier macro data due for release.

The headline seasonally adjusted Germany Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – a measure of monthon-month changes in total industry activity – registered a reading of 54.7 in February, up from 50.7 in January.

It signalled a fourth successive monthly increase in activity and a marked acceleration in the rate of growth – to the quickest since January 2018. Anecdotal evidence pointed to the early spring-like weather in February providing a boost to activity.  

Meanwhile, the German DAX remained tad 0.22 percent lower at 11,594.91 by 09:55GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained neutral at 41.96 (higher than +75 represents bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex