Government bonds fall in eurozone and Japan

Yields on government-issued bonds fell in the eurozone and in Japan on Thursday, while they went up in the UK and the United States.

Late in the day in the eurozone, the 10-year Bund was down 1.3 basis points and was yielding 3.115 percent.

The 10-year government bond in Japan lost 1.5 basis points to yield 1.215 percent, while an auction of a 5-year bond brought Ministry of Finance ¥1,826 billion, which had an average yield of 0.448 percent.

A decision by the Bank of England to have interest rates remain at 4.75 percent for a tenth straight month had little effect on gilts.

The news that had more influence was that the manufacturing sector did better in April than it had in March. The 2-year gilt rose 2.5 basis points to a yield of 4.306 percent, and 10-year gilts yielded 4.236 percent, gaining 2.7 basis points.

Meanwhile, at mid-day in New York, 2-year Treasuries were up 2.9 basis points to yield 3.636 percent, while 10-year bonds rose by 1.5 basis points to 3.958 percent as investors tried to discern whether Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan’s comments included any new information that would affect the bond market.

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