German 10-year bond gains dive below zero

On Friday, German 10-year bond gains slipped below zero. Meanwhile, European stocks and the common currency went down after grim data from the continent drove worries of a global economic deceleration after this week's dovish turn by the major US bank.

Gains on Germany's 10-year government bond became negative for the first time since October 2016 due to the fact that data revealed that manufacturing shrank for a third month in a row in March, contributing to fears that trade clashes are exacerbating a deceleration in the EU’s number one economy.

In general, factory activity in the euro zone was quite downbeat, shrinking at the fastest tempo for almost six years on the back of a big tumble in demand.

European equities suffered with German stocks diving by 0.3% having slumped to their lowest value for two weeks earlier. Stocks in Paris went down by 0.8%, while London's FTSE headed south by 1%. As for Europe's banking and industrial goods & services sectors, they became top losers.

MSCI's indicator of stocks worldwide went down by 0.2%, drifting away from the 5-1/2 months maximum recorded earlier in the week. American stock futures indicated that the souring mood would spread to Wall Street. Additionally, E-mini futures for the Down Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P inched down by 0.4%.

The German data compounded fears about the American economic outlook after on Wednesday the major US bank shocked traders by adopting a steeply dovish stance, anticipating no further interest rate lifts in 2019 and ending its balance sheet rolloffs.

The slump in German bund gains occurred after the American yield curve decreased further overnight, hinting at soaring market expectations of a downtime.

The greenback surged by 0.3% versus a group of six counterparts.