Bonds: Yields edge higher ahead of Federal Reserve rate decision
These were the movements in some of the most widely-followed 10-year sovereign bond yields:
US: 2.96% (+1bp)
UK: 1.41% (-1bp)
Germany: Holiday
France: Holiday
Italy: Holiday
Spain: Holiday
Portugal: Holiday
Greece: 3.87% (-6bp)
Japan: 0.04% (-1bp)
Longer-term government bonds were generally higher on Tuesday, save in the US, as traders positioned themselves ahead of the US central bank's policy announcement the next day.
The latest economic data out in the States was again rather 'mixed', with the ISM institute's widely-followed gauge manufacturing sector gauge printing at 57.3 for April which was down from a reading of 59.3 in March (consensus: 58.5).
Nevertheless, economists were quick to point out how the 'new orders' subindex contained in that survey barely slipped, retreating from a reading of 61.9 to 60.2.
In parallel, another subindex linked to the 'prices paid' by companies edged higher from 78.1 to 79.3 - its highest reading since April 2011.
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics labeled the retreat in the gauge of new orders as "very modest", adding that it "remains very high by historical standards".
"If orders remain at this level, we'd expect no further significant decline in production [...] Relatively cold and snowy weather likely hurt a bit, but the bigger story, we think, is uneasiness over tariffs, which might be inducing a bit of caution, at the margin.
"That said, the bigger picture globally is that manufacturing surveys have peaked in recent months, and we don't expect to see new highs in the ISM in this cycle even if the trade war talk fizzles our completely."
Meanwhile, in the UK, IHS Markit's factory sector PMI retreated to a 17-month low of 53.9 in April, down from a reading of 54.8 for March (consensus: 54.9).
Economists appeared to be in agreement that the data would likely forestall a hike in Bank Rate at the May meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.
For his part, Rob Dobson at IHS markit chipped-in: "Business optimism has also dipped to a five-month low as concerns about Brexit, trade barriers and the overall economic climate remained widespread."