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Germany's 10-Year Government Debt Dips Below Zero For The First Time

Benzinga 10 years ago

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Germany's 10-year government bond dipped below zero for the first time ever. The powerhouse country now joins other notable countries such as Japan and Switzerland, which boast a 10-year bond yield of less than zero.

Bloomberg noted the plunge in Germany's 10-year bond is attributed to the European Central Bank's policy of negative interest rates and asset purchases. In addition, recent polls out of Britain are pointing to a "yes" victory in the Brexit vote, which isn't helping the eurozone's investment profile.

Benchmark German 10-year bund yields were trading lower by 4 basis points to negative 0.02 percent as of 11:54 a.m. London time after touching negative 0.033 percent — the lowest level since Bloomberg began tracking the data in 1989.

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The 10-year bonds were offering a 0.63 percent yield at the end of 2015.

Bloomberg added that approximately $2.8 trillion worth of euro-region debt are trading with a yield below zero.

"Nobody buys bunds at these yield levels thinking they are attractive," Jussi Hiljanen, head of European macro- and fixed-income strategy at SEB AB in Stockholm told Bloomberg. "Demand for haven assets is being driven by fear of Brexit and growth concern. Investors are buying bunds as a hedge against uncertainty."

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