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The UK gilts plunged in muted trading session Thursday as investors wait to watch the country’s manufacturing production for the month of January and trade balance for the similar period, scheduled to be released on March 9 by 09:30GMT respectively.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, jumped 1-1/2 basis points to 1.50 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields surged 1 basis point to 1.91 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year too traded nearly 2 basis points higher at 0.82 percent by 11:15GMT.
The UK housing market outlook remains subdued, according to the RICS Residential Market Survey released overnight. Indeed, the headline indicator for house prices fell in February from 7 percent to 0 percent, marking a ninth consecutive reading in the range of 0 to 9 percent. New buyer enquiries, an indicator of demand, continued falling for an eleventh consecutive month.
Moreover, against a backdrop of weak demand, sellers were not very keen to enter the market either. Indeed, the new vendor instructions indicator fell to the lowest level since the wake of the Brexit referendum leaving the average inventory levels on agents’ books at the lowest level on record. Looking ahead, survey respondents continued to expect little change in house prices over the coming few months, although longer-term expectations turned slightly more positive and were the strongest since last May. Certainly, we expect little change in the market sentiment throughout this year. Further ahead, the housing market should be principally driven by the strength of the economy, wage growth and the nature of Brexit, as well as the extent to which the BoE will tighten monetary policy.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 traded 0.02 percent lower at 7,158.50 by 11:15 GMT, while at 11:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained neutral at 115.70 (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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