European bond market steady as Trump tariff concerns ease

Euro zone bonds steadied on Thursday with longer-dated bond yields pulling back slightly while shorter-dated ones inched higher after an easing in geopolitical tensions and Japanese bond market turmoil. A plunge in Japanese bonds, as well as US President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs as leverage to seize Greenland contributed to a global bond selloff on Tuesday, particularly in longer-dated bonds. However, Trump abruptly changed stance and Japanese government bonds have also rallied for the last two sessions. That has helped at least to put a floor under euro zone bond prices. Germany’s 10-year yield, the euro zone benchmark, was last steady at 2.8791 percent after edging down earlier in the session, after rising for the previous five sessions.