China slashes mortgage rates; yuan steady, stocks edge higher
Barclays rises after results, strategy update
European wage growth slows, euro zone bond yields hold lower
Dollar and treasury yields dips a touch
Commodities broadly soft

LONDONSINGAPORE, Feb 20 Reuters European shares teetered just shy of alltime highs on Tuesday, while euro zone wage data did little to jolt struggling government bonds, and Asian shares slipped as a record rate cut in China failed to excite investors.

Europe39;s broad STOXX 600 benchmark was down 0.1, but after its recent run up remains less than 1 from its record peak hit in early 2022, and SP 500 futures dipped 0.3.

Similarly Japan39;s Nikkei backed away from its flirtation with the index39;s 1989 all time high, closing 0.3 lower.

The main data release for Tuesday on a fairly quiet calendar was ECB numbers that showed the annual growth in negotiated wages across the euro area slowed to 4.5 in the final quarter of 2023, down slightly from a record high of 4.7 in the third quarter.

The ECB has singled out wages as the single biggest risk to its 112 year crusade against inflation, in which it raised key interest rates to record highs.

It did little to move markets however, and Germany39;s 10 year Bund yield, which moves inversely to its price, was down 2 basis points at 2.38 while the euro was a touch higher at 1.0798.

The euro zone39;s benchmark yield has risen around 35 bps so far this year as bumps in the road to lower inflation…