UK gilts jump on risk aversion ahead of Q4 GDP data

The UK gilts jumped Wednesday as investors poured into safe-haven instruments ahead of the country’s fourth-quarter 2017 gross domestic product (GDP), scheduled to be released on March 29 by 08:30GMT.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, slumped 5 basis points to 1.37 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields plunged 3-1/2 basis points to 1.71 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded 4-1/2 basis points lower at 0.84 percent by 10:20GMT.

The CBI Distributive Trade survey for March, due later this morning, should provide insights into how activity on the high street was affected by harsh weather earlier this month. Contrary to the Bloomberg consensus, we expect a weak report, with a good chance that like-for-like sales were down on their level a year ago.

Also due is the BoE’s latest agents’ summary of business conditions. Most notably, in terms of domestically-generated inflationary pressures, the minutes of this month’s MPC reported that the agents had seen higher pay deals since last autumn but no significant increase in corporate profit margins.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 slid 0.38 percent to trade at 6,974.50 by 10:25 GMT, while at 10:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained neutral at 15.88 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

Lastly, FxWirePro launches Absolute Return Managed Program. For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/invest