Bond investors wait on US economic data

Prices on government bonds were up in the eurozone but mostly down in the UK on Friday.

In the eurozone trading was sluggish as investors waited for US economic data scheduled to be released later in the day, including industrial production data, producer price figures, and measures of consumer sentiment.

However, yields remained near several-week highs as hopes for an interest rate cut in the region were once again muted by comments from officials of the European Central Bank.

At early afternoon, the 10-year Bund was down by 1.4 basis points to 3.283 percent while the 2-year Schatz fell 0.5 basis points to 2.221 percent.

Hopes for an interest rate cut in the UK were also slightly subdued as investors waited for next week’s released of the minutes of this month’s meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to see how many members of the committee voted for a rate cut this time around.

In afternoon trade, the 50-year gilt had lost 1.7 basis points to 4.281 percent after a disappointing auction of a new batch of the gilts Thursday. But yields were up on the 10-year and 2-year gilts.

The 10-year gilt added 0.6 basis points to yield 4.346 percent, while the 2-year gilt had gained 1.3 basis points to yield 4.122 percent.