Investors seek safety amid eurozone debt worries

Ten-year German bond yields spiralled to record lows earlier today and riskier assets faced pressure on mounting concerns over the debt crisis in the eurozone and uncertainty about global growth, reports Reuters.

This weekend sees a potentially turbulent International Monetary Fund meeting, which is aiming to increase its funds so as to help contain the problems in Europe, as well as the first round of the French presidential election. Combined, these two events have increased nervousness.

Weak manufacturing and unemployment data from the US on Thursday also raised doubts about growth, with Wall Street falling, and impacted commodity-related currencies in Asian trading. Patrick Jacq, a strategist at BNP Paribas, said that the economy’s fragility and the political situation in France has led to risky assets being put under pressure.

Ten-year German yields hit a record low of 1.597 per cent and riskier 10-year Spanish yields climbed above the key six per cent mark. The FTSE Eurofirst index opened at 1039.47, down by 0.2 per cent and in line with a drop in the world equity MSCI index, which was down by 0.1 per cent at 324.57 and by approximately three per cent for the month.
German bond yields, Spanish bond yields, eurozone crisis, international monetary fund,