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The UK gilts slumped Wednesday after investors largely shrugged off the downbeat lower-than-expected reading of July’s construction PMI. Also, investors are now eyeing the Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy decision, scheduled to be unveiled on August 3 by 11:00GMT for further direction to the debt market.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, jumped 2 basis points to 1.23 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields up nearly 1 basis point to 1.84 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded nearly 1-1/2 basis points higher at 0.28 percent by 10:20 GMT.
Ahead of tomorrow’s BoE policy announcement and Inflation Report publication, today looks set to bring just second-tier releases. The BRC’s shop price index released overnight, which showed that retail price inflation edged down slightly in July, from -0.3 percent y/y to -0.4 percent y/y. The year-on-year rate on this price measure has moved broadly sideways for the past four months, raising questions about the magnitude of further increases in headline CPI inflation over the coming months and quarters.
Within the details, non-food inflation decreased from -1.4 percent y/y to -1.5 percent y/y, while the rate of change in food prices decreased by 0.2ppt to 1.2 percent y/y, with food retailers reporting that the effect of sterling depreciation on fresh food prices had eased.
Lastly, adjusted for seasonal influences, the IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped from 54.8 in June to 51.9 in July, to signal the weakest construction performance since August 2016. The latest reading was below the long-run survey average (54.5) and pointed to only a moderate pace of business activity growth.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 fell 0.28 percent to 7,402.75 by 10:20 GMT, while at 10:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained slightly bullish at 86.61 (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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