Germany’s government bonds were little changed before a report economists said will show growth in the euro-region’s manufacturing and services industries slowed this month. Spanish and Italian securities were also little changed after yields dropped to records yesterday. Markit Economics will say its composite Purchasing Managers Index for the euro region was at 53.4 in August, from 53.8 the previous month, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Germany’s 10-year yield was at 1 percent as of 8:30 a.m. London time after dropping to a record 0.951 percent on Aug. 15. The price of the 1.5 percent bund due in May 2024 was 104.615 percent of face amount. Italian 10-year bonds yielded 2.61 percent after the rate touched 2.561 percent yesterday, the lowest since Bloomberg started collecting the data in 1993. The yield on similar-maturity Spanish debt was at 2.42 percent, after dropping to a record 2.375 percent yesterday. Germany’s securities returned 6.8 percent this year through yesterday, Bloomberg World Bond Indexes show. Spain’s earned 12 percent and Italy’s gained 11 percent. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-21/germany-s-bonds-are-little-changed-before-euro-area-pmi-report.html