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German bunds edge slightly up ahead of February CPI, ECB President Draghi’s speech

The German bunds edged slightly higher Tuesday as investors wait to see the country’s consumer price inflation index (CPI) for the month of February, scheduled to be released on March 14 by 07:00GMT, besides European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi who is also due to deliver a keynote speech on the same day by 08:00GMT for further direction in the debt market.

The German 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to its price, hovered around 0.62 percent, the yield on 30-year note slipped nearly 1 basis point to 1.27 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded 1/2 basis point lower at 0.57 percent by 09:40GMT.

A quiet day for euro area economic data has already brought the most notable new release in the shape of the French payrolls report for Q4. Total payrolls rose 0.3 percent q/q, in line with the average of the past six quarters, to leave them up 1.1 percent y/y, again in line with the recent trend.

Within the detail, an acceleration in the private sector (up 0.4 percent q/q and 1.5 percent y/y) more than offset a second successive quarterly drop in the public sector (down 0.2 percent and also down 0.2percent y/y), to reflect Macron policy initiatives (labour market reforms and public sector cuts) as well as the impact of firmer economic expansion.

Indeed, job growth was evident across the private sector, albeit strongest in construction (up 1.0 percent q/q and 2.3 percent y/y) and services (0.5 percent q/q and 1.9 percent y/y). And while economic growth looks to have moderated somewhat, surveys such as that produced by INSEE (which suggested that the employment climate remained the most favorable in February since 2011) point to continued firm payroll growth in Q1.

Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.16 percent to 12,436.99 by 09:45GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained neutral at -15.91 (higher than +75 represents bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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