UK gilts mixed despite slight rise in March manufacturing PMI; construction PMI in focus

The UK gilts remained mixed Tuesday even as the country’s manufacturing PMI for the month of March came in above market expectations, also tad up from the previous reading in February. Investors will now be eyeing the construction and services PMI, due through the week for added direction in the debt market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, slid nearly 1 basis point to 1.34 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields hovered around 1.70 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded nearly 1 basis point higher at 0.83 percent by 10:40GMT.

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index® (PMI) posted 55.1 in March, little-changed from 55.0 in February. The average reading over the opening quarter as a whole (55.1) was the weakest in a year, suggesting that the underlying pace of expansion has been generally slower since the start 2018.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 slid 0.18 percent to trade at 7,044.23 by 10:45 GMT, while at 10:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained neutral at 0.64 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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