UK gilts plunge despite fall in January construction PMI; services PMI in focus

The UK gilts plunged Friday as investors have largely shrugged-off the country’s lower-than-expected construction PMI for the month of January. Now, the focus has turned to the services PMI for the same period, due to be released by early next week for insightful details into the debt market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, jumped 5 basis points to 1.58 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields surged 3 basis points to 1.37 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded tad higher at 0.67 percent by 10:15GMT.

The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI fell to 50.2 in January from 52.2 in December, well below a median forecast of 52.0 in a Reuters poll of economists. Firms expected business to improve later in 2018 but the outlook depended on how Britain’s Brexit talks go, Teague said.

Prime Minister Theresa May wants to negotiate a deal with the European Union that avoids major new barriers to trade and investment, even as she comes under pressure from many members of her Conservative Party to resist the demands of Brussels.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 traded 0.43 percent lower at 7,465.25 by 10:20 GMT, while at 10:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained neutral at 23.12 (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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