Markets

Bund futures open slightly higher after Fed minutes

Published August 23, 2012 Updated August 23, 2012 07:52am

US 10-year T-notes rallied on Wednesday after release of the minutes, before giving up some of the gains in the Asian session.

 At 0605 GMT, Bund futures were 13 ticks higher at 142.74. Trading was expected to remain choppy, with some investors betting the European Central Bank will intervene in bond markets to ease Spanish and Italian borrowing costs as early as next month, while others are more cautious due to uncertainty over when and how such action might take place.

Markets will get a steer from euro zone purchasing managers index (PMI) data later in the day.

"More signs of weakness in core economies could ultimately prove helpful in allowing the ECB to be aggressive in their actions ... thus it could be that weak PMIs serve to float all boats' in euro-government bond markets today," Credit Agricole rate strategist Peter Chatwell said in a note.

Copyright Reuters, 2012