Germany’s inflation rate turned negative in January for the first time in more than five years. Japanese inflation slowed in December more than economists forecast.
For the euro area as a whole, consumer prices slid 0.6 percent this month from a year earlier, matching the biggest decline in the history of the single currency. Deflation is a general drop in prices, which helps preserve the value of fixed- interest payments on bonds.
“The much-bigger intermediate trend is the amount of money flowing into the U.S. from overseas,” said Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, which manages $61 billion in assets.