London — World stocks slipped on Monday as investors braced for a blizzard of earnings from the world’s largest firms, while keeping a wary eye on US bond yields as they approach peaks that have triggered market spasms in the past. The yield on 10-year US Treasuries hit its highest level since January 2014 at 2.9790% in early European trade, as the spread over the German equivalent briefly touched its widest level in 29 years. Traders were also getting a global round of economic surveys that should show if economic softness in the first quarter was just a passing phase linked to wintry weather and the Lunar New Year holidays. Readings from Japan, France and Germany were all relatively reassuring. Japan’s PMI firmed as output and domestic demand picked up, France was helped by its services sector, while Germany was also above forecast despite weaker new orders numbers. "It’s a good reading, it’s still encouraging," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, of the...
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