The interest rate on 10-year bonds issued by the German government has turned negative for the first time. Fears about the global economy and a possible UK departure from the EU have prompted investors to pay to own “Bunds”. Stock markets have suffered further falls, with the FTSE 100 in London sinking below 6,000 points for the first time since February. Wall Street fell overnight, as did most markets in Asia, while gold rose 1.4%. Returns on 10-year UK government bonds fell by a significant amount – 0.06 percentage points – to a record low of 1.146%.