* Government bond yields near multi-year lows
* German 10-year Bund yields hit record low of -0.4%
* U.S. Treasuries near 2-1/2 year trough
* Slumping bonds push world stocks to highest since Feb 2018
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
(Updates prices throughout; adds German Bunds falling to -0.4%)
By Tom Wilson
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Government bonds held near
multi-year lows on Thursday on bets the U.S. Federal Reserve
would cut interest rates this month and that other major central
banks would embrace looser monetary policy, pushing world stocks
to new 18-month highs.
Germany's 10-year government bond yield, a benchmark for
euro zone debt, fell to -0.4% and matched the European Central
Bank's deposit rate for the first time -- a sign that markets
are expecting rate cuts.
Other benchmark debt yields also held near record lows in
the wake of their recent rally. U.S. 10-year Treasury notes had
hit their lowest since November 2016 on Wednesday, pushed down
by bets that the European Central Bank's next head will maintain
a dovish policy stance to buoy the euro zone economy.
"For central banks, everyone is expecting dovish moves, not
only for U.S. but also for Europe and even Japan," said
Christophe Barraud, chief economist at Market Securities in
Paris. "Everybody is a optimistic for quick central bank moves."
The fall in U.S. Treasuries came after a report showed U.S.
companies added fewer jobs than expected in June, raising
concerns the labour market is softening even as the current U.S.
economic expansion marked a record run last month. With Wall Street closed for the Independence Day holiday,
investors said they were now focused on Friday's U.S. non-farm
payrolls, which economists expect to have risen by 160,000 in
June compared with 75,000 in May.
Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday
repeated his call for the United States to match what he says
are efforts by China and Europe to manipulate currencies and
pump money into their economies. Government borrowing costs in the euro zone have fallen to
record lows after EU leaders agreed late on Tuesday to name
Christine Lagarde as the ECB's new president.
Lagarde, the current International Monetary Fund head, is
widely expected to maintain the dovish stance of current ECB
President Mario Draghi.
The action in bond markets buoyed stocks. MSCI's all-country
world index .MIWD00000PUS eked out a 0.1% gain after hitting
its highest since February last year a day earlier.
Equity markets across Europe were flat, with the Euro STOXX
600 .STOXX unchanged amid thin volumes. The three major U.S.
stock indexes had finished at record closing highs on Wednesday.
Italian 10-year bond yields stayed close to their lowest
since late 2016 after the European Commission dropped its threat
to discipline Rome over its public finances, pushing the
country's main bourse .FTMIB to a new two-month peak.
In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.2%.
For an interactive version of Bund yield set to fall below
ECB deposit rate, click here https://tmsnrt.rs/2YtKj7d.
FLAT DOLLAR, EURO
Expectations for rate cuts by the Fed saw the dollar drift
away from recent highs, though currencies were by and large
quiet in early European trade.
The dollar index .DXY against a basket of six major
currencies was unchanged at 96.711.
The euro traded at $1.1284 EUR= , a touch higher than its
two-week low of $1.1268 touched on Wednesday.
FX strategists said that although the drop in U.S. Treasury
yields overnight was negative for the dollar, softness in other
currencies was lending some support.
"We are seeing some euro weakness and some dollar weakness,
and the two are cancelling each other out," said Thu Lan Nguyen,
FX strategist at Commerzbank.
"What is happening in U.S. and euro zone monetary policy
will also determine what happens in smaller countries," she
added.
In commodity markets, oil fell on data showing a
smaller-than-expected decline in U.S. crude stockpiles and
worries about the global economy.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 , the international benchmark for
oil prices, were flat at $63.84 per barrel by 1109 GMT.
Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock
markets, please click on: LIVE/
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bund yield set to fall below ECB deposit rate png https://tmsnrt.rs/2YqE2cu
Bund yield set to fall below ECB deposit rate interactive https://tmsnrt.rs/2YtKj7d
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>