5 Charts From the Week in Markets

Uncharted territory looms in European bond markets, as oil investors cheer signs of a peak in U.S. ouput. Wall Street’s profit engines roar back, and some Treasury investors score big.

#1: Yields Near Uncharted Territory

The yield on Germany’s 10-year government bond, a key reference point for investors in Europe, skidded toward zero as renewed jitters over Greece and the European Central Bank’s reaffirmation of its bond-buying program sent investors flocking to German government bonds. Sharp price rises pushed the yield on the 10-year bond down to 0.05% Friday. Europe’s falling interest rates are a boon for some homebuyers, though, who could get money back on their mortgages. And investors hunted for bargains amid European corporate bonds, which haven’t kept up with the rally in government bonds.

#2: As Oil Eyes a Comeback

Signs that the relentless increases in U.S. oil output may be coming to an end pushed oil prices to their highest point this year. Crude production remains robust, but new data and forecasts, including one Thursday from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, suggest the U.S. is close to an oil-output peak.

#3: U.S. Bonds (Yes, Bonds) Net Double-Digit Returns

The global flight to safety has taken an unexpectedly lucrative turn. Thanks to a roaring dollar rally and a world-wide grab for ultrasafe government bonds, overseas buyers of U.S. government bonds have reaped returns easily outpacing gains from riskier assets, such as stocks, denominated in dollars. The biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasurys? Japan, which ousted China from the top spot for the first time since the financial crisis.

#4: While China's High Fliers Face Vertigo

China’s racing stock markets ran into a potential pothole as regulators on Friday tightened rules on margin lending while the country’s two stock exchanges said they would make it easier to bet against stocks, spurring worries that the world’s best-performing markets could tumble. Hong Kong’s surging market, however, stood to get another jolt as regulators considered loosening rules that have blocked small mainland investors from buying shares in the city. Previous moves to allow more mainland investment in Hong Kong’s markets have propelled the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index to seven-year highs; it topped 28000 on Monday.

#5: And Wall Street's Engines Roar Back

Some of Wall Street’s biggest names posted blowout earnings, signaling that many of the financial industry’s cylinders are firing. Goldman Sachs Group got a big boost from its trading desks as it posted its highest quarterly revenue in four years. Blackstone Group paid out its highest quarterly dividend ever as the investment group sold assets at big gains. Fees for advising on such deals bolstered first-quarter earnings at Goldman, as well as Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America.