Eurozone periphery bonds jump on safe-haven demand after N. Korea threatens nuclear war with the U.S.

The Eurozone periphery bonds jumped in mid-European trading session Wednesday after investors flocked safe-haven instruments, following threats by North Korea that it will launch nuclear attacks on the U.S. after the US flew B-1B bombers over the Korean Peninsula Tuesday in a show of force.

The benchmark German 10-year bond yields, which moves inversely to its price, hovered around 0.48 percent, the French 10-year bond yields flat at 0.75 percent, Irish 10-year bond yields rose nearly 1/2 basis point to 0.77 percent, Italian down 1/2 basis point to 2.01 percent, Netherlands 10-year bond yields steady at 0.59 percent, Portuguese equivalents slumped 1-1/2 basis points to 2.85 percent and the Spanish 10-year yields traded nearly flat at 1.47 percent by 09:20GMT.

North Korea has threatened to launch pre-emptive military strikes against the United States, including targeting the US Pacific island territory of Guam, the latest salvo in an increasingly aggressive back-and-forth between Pyongyang and Washington. Pyongyang's provocation followed the most aggressive language yet from US President Donald Trump on North Korea, who vowed to unleash "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to threaten the US.

On a relatively quiet day for major economic data in Europe, we have already seen the most notable release today – the Bank of France’s business sentiment survey for July. Some French economic sentiment surveys have recently suggested that momentum in the second-largest euro area member state moderated at the start of the third quarter.

The composite PMI fell by 1pt to 55.6, the lowest level since the start of the year, and the INSEE’s consumer sentiment index dropped from 108 to 104, albeit still the second-highest for a decade. However, today’s survey was more consistent with the more positive INSEE business sentiment index, released at the end of last month. Having eased slightly to 103 in June, the Bank of France’s manufacturing business sentiment index rose to 105, the highest level since early 2011 and comfortably above the long-run average, as production growth recovered and the level of order books remained high.

Meanwhile, the pan-European STOXX 600 index slumped 0.88 percent to 379.29, German DAX plunged 1.25 percent to 12,137.00, France’s CAC 40 plummeted 1.73 percent to 5,128.80 and the PSI20 Index traded 0.92 percent lower at 5,228.73 by 09:50 GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained highly bearish at -128.19 (higher than +75 represents bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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