UK gilts slump after wage growth remains upbeat in August; investors await September retail sales

The UK gilts slumped Wednesday after the country’s wage growth remained upbeat during the month of August, adding to riskier sentiments among the investors. Further, investors now wait to watch the country’s retail sales for the month of September, scheduled to be released on October 19 by 08:30GMT.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, jumped nearly 2-1/2 basis points to 1.30 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields also climbed 2-1/2 basis points to 1.87 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year too traded 2-1/2 basis points higher at 0.43 percent by 09:10 GMT.

UK unemployment fell by 52,000 in the three months to August to 1.4 million, leaving the jobless rate unchanged at 4.3 percent from the previous quarter - still at the lowest level since 1975.

However, pay still failed to keep pace with inflation, with the real value of earnings down 0.3 percent over the past year. Total earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 2.1 percent from June to August. The claimant count increased by 1,700 to 804,100 last month, said the Office for National Statistics.

The UK's key inflation rate rose to 3 percent in September. There were 32.1 million people in work in the UK in the three-month period, 94,000 more than in the previous three-month period and 317,000 more than in the same period in 2016. The employment rate was 75.1 percent, up from 74.5 percent a year earlier, while the total number of unemployed people was 215,000 than at the same time last year.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 traded 0.03percent higher at 7,541.75 by 09:15 GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained highly bearish at -119.92 (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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