German bunds remain tad lower amid muted end to trading week  

The German bunds remained tad lower during European session Friday amid a muted end to the trading day of this week, which witnessed data of little economic significance.

The German 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to its price, rose 1 basis point to -0.389 percent, the yield on 30-year note also gained 1 basis point to 0.208 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year remained flat at -0.752 percent by 09:50GMT.

The case for imminent easing of ECB monetary policy was strengthened further by this morning’s German factory orders data, which were nothing short of dire. Total orders fell 2.2 percent m/m, the biggest drop in three months, to stand 8.6 percent lower than a year earlier – the sharpest annual fall since 2009 – and take the level to its lowest since February 2016, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.

Following this week's chorus of dovish sounds from a wide range of Governing Council members, these data make it impossible to believe that the ECB won’t ease policy soon. The only questions are when and by how much.

While the case for a July cut is non-negligible, the ECB would normally decide to amend policy only when it has updated its economic forecasts, to be able to calibrate precisely the size of the rate cut (and/or size of adjustment on the asset purchase programme) required, the report added.

Meanwhile, the German DAX traded tad lower at 12,600.48 by 10:00GMT