German bunds suffer after March services PMI, eurozone February retail sales beats market expectations

The German bunds suffered during European session Wednesday after the country’s services PMI for the month of March came in higher than market expectations, coupled with eurozone’s retail sales data for February, which also cheered market participants.

The German 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to its price, jumped 5 basis points to 0.001 percent, the yield on 30-year note surged 5-1/2 basis points to 0.652 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded nearly 2 basis points higher at -0.584 percent by 10:15GMT.

March saw the headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Germany Services PMI Business Activity Index inch up from 55.3 in February to 55.4, its highest reading since September last year (and above the preliminary 'flash' reading of 54.9). Over the first quarter, the index recorded an average that was slightly higher than for 2018 as a whole.

Further, eurozone’s seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade increased by 0.4 percent in both the euro area (EA19) and EU28, during the month of February, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In January, the retail trade volume increased by 0.9 percent in the euro area and by 1.0 percent in the EU28. In February 2019 compared with same period last year, the calendar adjusted retail sales index increased by 2.8 percent in the euro area and by 3.3 percent in the EU28.

Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 1.20 percent to 11,893.24 by 10:20GMT, while at 10:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained neutral at 55.12 (higher than +75 represents bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex