* Negative-yielding euro zone govt bond pool at 48% in May
* Highest share since Sept 2016 - Tradeweb data
* Global pool of negative-yielding bonds over $10.5 trillion
* Dutch 10-year bond yield negative for 1st time since 2016 (Updates first paragraph, adds par on Japan)By Dhara RanasingheLONDON, May 31 (Reuters) - The Netherlands on Friday becamethe latest euro zone state to see its 10-year yields fall belowzero percent, joining a pool of negative-yielding eurogovernment bonds that grew in May to encompass 48% of the eurodebt traded on Tradeweb.This proportion, the latest sign of the pessimism grippingworld markets, is the highest since September 2016, according todata from Tradeweb.Bond yields across major developed markets have plunged thisyear as weak data, trade tensions and a dovish policy shift frommajor central banks boost demand for fixed income.That trend has accelerated in May on signs of increasinglybitter trade tensions, heightened Brexit uncertainty and fearsthat Italy is set for another budget clash with Europe.Of around the 7.69 trillion euros ($8.57 trillion) of euroarea government bonds in the Tradeweb system, the proportion ofdebt yielding less than zero rose to 3.71 trillion euros or 48%of the total in May, data from the trading platform as of theclose of trade on Thursday showed.It is up from 3.44 trillion euros or roughly 45% in April.It is the largest share since September 2016, a year whendeflation risks and global growth worries last drove bond yieldsin the bloc deeply negative."Bond markets are telling you that disinflation is coming,"said Tim Graf, chief macro strategist at State Street GlobalAdvisors in London."It speaks to a situation where markets are discounting moreof a global slowdown than maybe we had previously thought," hesaid, referring to the deepening pool of negative-yieldinggovernment debt.
For an interactive version of the chart below, click: Friday's sharp drop in euro zone debt yields following U.S.President Donald Trump's sudden threat to impose tariffs onMexican goods -- suggests the pool of government bonds carryingsub-zero yields has only deepened.Worldwide, analysts reckon more than $10.5 trillion in bondsnow carry negative yields. That essentially means that insecondary bond markets, investors are willing to pay governmentsfor holding their debt.In Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy and itsbenchmark bond issuer, yields on 10-year government bonds fellto record lows at minus 0.21% . It is now trading below Japan's 10-year bond yields, whichstand at around minus 0.095% .The yield on the triple-A rated Dutch 10-year bond yield,teetering close to 0% for days now, turned negative for thefirst time since 2016. It was last trading down 3 basis pointsat minus 0.014% .Tradeweb data also showed almost 29% of euro zone governmentbonds -- some 2.2 trillion euros worth -- now yield less thanthe European Central Bank's deposit rate of minus 0.40 percent,the highest since December 2016. The proportion was 25% at theend of April.
"It is not a surprise that the pool of negative yieldingbonds has risen," said Jan von Gerich, chief market strategistat Nordea. "There is no sign of a bottoming out in yields yet."
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Dutch government bond yield curve Pool of negative yielding euro zone bonds jumps ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Dhara RanasingheEditing by Sujata Rao and Raissa Kasolowsky)