Aust bonds flat with Europe in doldrums November 21, 2014 - 8:52AM Australian bond futures prices are virtually flat as a key European economic barometer falls to a 16-month low. The euro zone's Purchasing Managers' Index for November, measuring manufacturing and services activity, showed Germany remaining weak. "There's a whole array of people who are deeply concerned about Europe slipping back towards recession," Commonwealth Bank head of debt research Adam Donaldson said. But US data countered the dire European news. American existing home sales rose by 1.5 per cent to a 13-month high in October. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing report for November showed conditions at the highest level since December 1993. At 0830 AEDT on Friday, the December 2014 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.705 (implying a yield of 3.295 per cent), up from 96.700 (3.300 per cent) on Thursday. The December 2014 three-year bond futures contract was unchanged at 97.450 (2.550 per cent).