So much for the end of the bull market in bonds.

Recession worries and central-bank stimulus in Europe and Japan have given fresh life to a three-decade-long rally in global debt. Bonds worldwide are off to the best annual start since at least 1996. They've earned about 3.2 percent this quarter and added $2.1 trillion of market value, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch index that tracks securities ranging from corporate and government obligations to mortgage-backed debt.

The strength came as a surprise to bears who said the rally was on its last legs after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade in December. At the start of the year, strategists predicted benchmark 10-year Treasury yields would reach 2.45 percent this quarter. Instead, 10-year notes yielded 1.81 percent as of 8:45 a.m. in London on Thursday, dropping from 2.27 percent on Dec. 31.