- Europe’s benchmark government yield surpasses its 2015 low
- Slowdown in U.S. labor market, U.K. referendum adding to risks
Germany’s 10-year bond yield fell to a record low amid a surge in demand for the safest fixed-income assets.
The securities, which act as Europe’s benchmark sovereign debt, rose as investors digested signs of a slowdown in the U.S. labor market, contended with a referendum on the U.K.’s membership of the European Union and absorbed the effects of unprecedented monetary stimulus.
“There is a long, long list of reasons why bund yields are this low,” said Peter Chatwell, head of rates strategy at Mizuho International Plc in London. “And uncertainty over the U.K. referendum makes it very difficult to contemplate holding a short position at the current time,” he said, referring to bets the price will fall.
Eshe Nelson | Bloomberg