LONDON: German Bund futures opened lower on Monday after surprisingly-firm Chinese data helped to ease global growth worries, giving riskier assets a boost and turning the focus to factoy data from the euro zone and the United States.
Bund futures opened 60 ticks lower at 137.89, broadly in line with levels reached in after-hours trading on Friday when final activity of the first quarter saw safe-haven bonds sell off globally.
Riskier assets like European equities looked set to begin the second quarter on a postive note, helped by Chinese data that soothed some concerns about the country's economic outlook.
"The Chinese PMIs were strong overnight... now we'll have a look at the euro zone ones and the (US)ISM survey... it still looks pretty fragile out there in Europe," a trader said.
Purchasing Managers' Index data from the euro zone will be watched for any sign of fresh weakness after flash estimates last month painted a grim outlook for the region as it struggles to generate the growth needed to tackle its debt.
Equivalent US data will also be released later in the session, with investors keen to see whether the recent positive momentum in the world's largest economy can be sustained.
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