UK gilts gain ahead of Government-Labour talks on Brexit, March employment report

The United Kingdom’s gilts gained during European session Monday ahead of today’s resumption of Brexit talks between the government and Labour Party; polls conducted over the weekend have already showed a possibility of further rise in support for the Brexit Party and the Conservatives in fourth place in terms of voting intentions for next week’s European Parliament elections.

Investors will also be focussing on the country’s employment report for the month of March, scheduled to be released on May 14 by 08:30GMT for further direction in the debt market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, slipped 1 basis point to 1.126 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields suffered nearly 1-1/2 basis points to 1.666 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded tad lower at 0.735 percent by 09:35GMT.

On the data front, Britain will witness the labour market report tomorrow; while business sentiment surveys suggested some weakening in the labour market, jobs growth remained strong in the first two months of the year, reporting 222k3m/3m and 179k3m/3m increases. A further moderation in growth to around 140k3m/3m is on the cards this time, but that level would still be above the average of the last twelve months, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.

The three-month unemployment rate should remain unchanged at 3.9 percent, the lowest level since mid-1970s, for a third consecutive month. But growth in average weekly earnings might inch slightly lower from the post-global-financial-crisis high of 3.5 percent 3m/y seen in the previous three months, the report added, the report added.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 remained flat at 7,205.75 by 09:40GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained slightly bearish at -99.60 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex