European sovereign yields also declined, led by French bonds, after the new Lecornu government announced it would suspend a pension reform law to consolidate parliamentary support. Meanwhile, German investor sentiment improved less than expected, according to the ZEW index, and the IMF raised its euro area growth forecast from 1.0% to 1.2%.
In other asset classes, renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and China weighed on sentiment, after President Trump threatened to halt cooking oil trade and China sanctioned U.S. units of a South Korean shipping firm. Most major equity indices declined, while the dollar weakened against the euro and yen.
Â