UK gilts rally after EU leaders agree to Article 50 deadline extension to avoid no-deal Brexit next week

The United Kingdom’s gilts rallied during Friday’s afternoon session, after the European Union leaders have finally agreed to an extension of the Article 50 deadline to avoid a no-deal Brexit next week.

If the House of Commons approves the Withdrawal Agreement next week, they will extend the deadline to May 22. And if approval of a deal is not reached over coming days, the extension will initially be shorter still, to April 12 – the date at which the UK would need to set legislation if it is to participate in May’s European Parliament elections – with the UK by then having to indicate a clear alternative way forward for EU leaders to consider, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, slipped 1/2 basis point to 1.059 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields suffered 1-1/2 basis points to 1.535 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year hovered around 0.692 percent by 11:30GMT.

"Even if the House of Commons Speaker allows it to go ahead, we strongly doubt that Theresa May can win a majority in favour of her deal outright next week to qualify for the 22 May deadline. Her antagonistic statement to the public on Wednesday evening, when she demonised MPs for their intransigence, seems to have made that task near-impossible, alienating those MPs whose votes she will need to win, and losing the confidence of key Cabinet colleagues (reportedly including her all-important Chief Whip). We would not rule out the possibility, however, that the deal can be passed subject to confirmation by a second referendum later in the year," Daiwa commented in its report.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 remained -1.08 percent down at 7,275.75 by 11:35GMT, while at 11:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained neutral at 8.72 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex