(Updates at 1015 GMT)
By Sruthi Shankar and Samuel Indyk
LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond
yields were mixed on Tuesday after hitting a seven-month low the
day before as firmer U.S. data helped ease worries about an
imminent recession, but concerns about market volatility
remained.
Germany's 10-year yield was last down 2 basis
points (bps) at 2.162%, having touched 2.074% on Monday, its
lowest since Jan. 4, before recovering to end little changed on
the day. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
The recovery in yields gained steam after data showed that
the U.S. services sector rebounded from a four-year low in July,
with a measure of services employment rising for the first time
since January.
That helped ease worries of a recession after Friday's weak
U.S. labour market report sparked growth worries and had markets
betting on more aggressive central bank easing this year.
Markets had moved to price in 130 bps of rate cuts by the
Federal Reserve by year-end, but have trimmed those expectations
to around 112 bps.
It was a similar picture for the European Central Bank,
where markets had priced as much as 90 bps of additional easing
by year-end, or at least three quarter-point cuts.
That now stands at 68 bps, implying two 25 bp moves and
around a 72% chance of a third.
"The fundamental picture hasn't changed that much," said
Sophia Oertmann, government bond analyst at DZ Bank.
"We had the weak employment report and other signs the U.S.
economy is slowing down but that's not justification to suddenly
price in a peak of 130 bps of easing by the Fed this year.
That's clearly too much," Oertmann added.
Fed policymakers on Monday attempted to calm markets,
pushing back on the notion that Friday's weak payrolls report
means the economy is in recessionary freefall.
Germany's two-year yield, which is more sensitive
to changes in central bank easing expectations, was last up 1.5
bps at 2.348%. It hit its lowest level since March 2023 on
Monday at 2.151%.
The sharp swings in markets were a combination of heavy
positioning, unwinding of carry trades, summer illiquidity and
geopolitical concerns, according to Jefferies chief Europe
economist Mohit Kumar.
This helped amplify the shift in the market perception of
the U.S. economy, he said.
"Markets are not yet out of the woods, but at least the
indications from Japan this morning look encouraging," said
Christoph Rieger, head of rates and credit research at
Commerzbank.
A more than 12% slide on Monday in Japan's main share index,
the Nikkei 225, was mostly reversed on Tuesday, with the
index rising over 10%.
Japanese leaders on Tuesday tried to assuage concerns about
the sharp swings in financial markets, with senior finance
officials convening an emergency meeting to discuss the
sell-off.
Italy's 10-year yield, the benchmark for the
euro zone periphery, fell 3 bps to 3.647%, pushing the spread
between Italian and Germany 10-year yields to
147.5 bps. On Monday it touched its widest level in more than
five weeks at 153.9 bps.