Germany’s 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, dropped 3 basis points to 2.47%.
It had risen 5.5 basis points yesterday, its biggest increase since early March, after a report that the US was considering cutting its tariffs on Chinese imports, pushing investors out of safe assets like euro zone bonds and into stocks.
German bonds have retained their safe-haven properties in recent weeks, even as the picture grows more complicated for US Treasuries.
And with world shares and the dollar down today, that helped German bonds.
Also in the mix today was the Ifo survey showing German business morale unexpectedly rose in April, though expectations were slightly gloomier as uncertainty among companies has increased.
That was unable to boost the mood too much, however.
“The improvement in the Ifo in April may be another sign that tariff front-loading, which was also mentioned by PMI respondents, supported activity somewhat in April,” said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics.
“Nevertheless, the big picture remains that the German economy is still very weak,” said Palmas.
That followed data yesterday that pointed to stalling business activity growth in the euro zone area this month, and on-and-off Trump tariffs remained the focus for markets.
US President Donald Trump’s global tariffs have whipsawed markets, and potential signs of easing in trade tensions were a relief to investors.
In response to the reports about talks between China and the US, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said today they have not held consultations or negotiations on tariffs.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said yesterday that high tariffs between the US and China were not sustainable, as President Trump’s administration signalled openness to de-escalating a trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has raised fears of recession.
A spokesman for China’s commerce ministry separately said that the US should lift all unilateral tariff measures against China if it “truly” wanted a resolution.
Italy’s 10-year yield was lower by 5 bps at 3.58%, and the gap between Italian and German 10-year bonds narrowed to 113 bps.
France’s 10-year bond yield fell 4 bps to 3.2%. French consumer confidence steadied in April, data showed today.
Germany’s 2-year bond yield, which is more sensitive to European Central Bank (ECB) rate expectations, dropped 3 bps to 1.70%.
Money markets expect the ECB’s main rate at nearly 1.6% in December.