German bunds slip ahead of 10-year auction, March ZEW economic sentiment

The German bunds slipped Monday as investors wait to watch the country’s 10-year auction, scheduled to be held on March 21, besides, the ZEW economic sentiment index for the month of March, due for release on March 20 for detailed direction in the debt market.

The German 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to its price, rose nearly 1 basis point to 0.57 percent, the yield on 30-year note surged 1 basis point to 1.23 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year hovered around -0.58 percent by 09:10GMT.

The principal focus in the euro area this week will be the first top-tier economic survey results for March, with Thursday’s preliminary PMIs arguably most notable. The euro area composite PMI declined more than 1-1/2 pts in February to a four-month low of 57.1, and this week’s figure is similarly likely to be consistent with a gradual moderation of economic momentum in Q1.

The German and French PMIs will likely send similar messages, as should national business sentiment surveys – Germany’s Ifo and France’s INSEE indices – both of which are also due on Thursday. Ahead of those releases, tomorrow will bring the ZEW indices of investor confidence and the flash European Commission euro-area consumer confidence indicator, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.

And the week will kick off with euro area trade and construction output figures for January later today. In the bond markets, Germany will sell 2Y Schatz tomorrow and 10Y Bunds on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the German DAX slumped 1.15 percent to 12,250.57 by 09:15GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained neutral at -37.50 (higher than +75 represents bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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