Negative yields on the longest bonds trigger a warning in Sweden

STOCKHOLM: In Scandinavia, where unemployment is low, inflation is rising and the economies are growing, bond traders are bracing for gloom.

On Wednesday, the Danish central bank drew attention to an historic event in its debt markets as yields on 20-year government bonds went negative for the first time. In neighbouring Sweden, yields on 10-year bonds have been hovering around zero since mid-June. The development has been dubbed “absurd” by one economist, while the head of Sweden’s central bank says he doesn’t know what’s motivating bond traders.