UK gilts slump after September manufacturing PMI inches closer to 50-point mark; services PMI eyed

The United Kingdom’s gilts slumped during European trading hours Tuesday after the country’s manufacturing PMI for the month of September, inched a step closer to the 50-point mark, also beating investors’ expectations, as markets still eye Britain’s construction and services PMI for the similar period, due on October 2 and 3 for further direction in the debt market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, jumped 6 basis points to 0.548 percent, the 30-year yield surged 6-1/2 basis points to 1.038 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year gained nearly 4 basis points to 0.407 percent by 10:45GMT.

The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose slightly to 48.3 in September, up from August's six-and-a-half year low of 47.4. The headline index has now remained below the neutral 50.0 mark for five successive months, its longest sequence below that mark since mid-2009.

"As the Brexit October deadline came into view, the sector offered two opposing strategies to prepare for the UK’s departure. Where some companies were burning through their levels of materials, others began building stocks up again, fearful of an imminent and abrupt rupture in their supply chains. European clients became more resigned and made concrete plans to move away from UK suppliers and business closer to home seemed more reliable," said Rob Dobson, Director at IHS Markit.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 traded -0.39 percent down at 7,380.67 by 10:50GMT.