European yields are higher as European stock markets followed Asian markets higher. Weakr than expected Chinese GDP numbers helped stimulate a rally, which underpinned investor confidence. Slightly better than expected ZEW investor confidence may also have helped the DAX to post a gain of more than 2%, but the expectations reading still dipped in January. German and Eurozone final December HICP readings held no surprises, and help buoy equity prices. U.K. inflation meanwhile ticked slightly higher in December, with core inflation unexpectedly rising to 1.4% from 1.2%. The 10-year German yield is currently up 3 basis points at 0.56% and the Gilt yield up 6 basis points at 1.75%.
IMF say that global growth is on a gradually improving trend, though uneven, noting that “clearly there is a difficult adjustment period ahead in emerging markets,” which “need not involve a crisis” so long as economic models are upgraded. The fund also noted that the benefits of lower oil prices were lower than normal due to the severe budgetary impact being seen on oil exporting economies. The IMF advocates continue easy monetary policy and supportive fiscal policy to underpin the fragile global recovery