UK gilts jump following lower-than-expected fall in December manufacturing PMI; Nov employment data eyed

The United Kingdom’s gilts surged during European trading hours Monday following a lower-than-expected fall in the country’s manufacturing PMI for the month of December, while investors still eye Britain’s employment report for the month of November, scheduled to be released on December 17 by 09:30GMT for further direction into the debt market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, lost nearly 1-1/2 basis points to 0.779 percent, the 30-year yield slumped nearly 2 basis points to 1.265 percent while the yield on the short-term 2-year gained 2 basis points to 0.560 percent by 11:20GMT.

The latest IHS Markit / CIPS Flash UK Composite PMI data revealed a decline in private sector output for the second month running in December.

At 48.5, down from 49.3 in November, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit / CIPS Flash UK Composite Output Index – which is based on approximately 85 percent of usual monthly replies – pointed to a modest reduction in overall business activity. Moreover, the rate of decline was the fastest recorded since July 2016.

Further, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS Flash UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance – dropped to 47.4 in December, from 48.9 in November, to signal the sharpest downturn in overall business conditions since August.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 jumped over 2 percent to 7,510.39 by 11:25GMT.