UK gilts gain after services PMI disappoints; eyes on BoE’s interest rate decision

The UK gilts gained Monday after the country’s services PMI for the month of January disappointed market expectations, thus pushing debt prices higher. Now, investors will be closely eyeing the Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy decision, scheduled to be unveiled on February 8 by 12:00GMT for detailed insight into the bond market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, slumped 2 basis points to 1.56 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields slipped a little over 1/2 basis point to 1.95 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded 1 basis point lower at 0.65 percent by 10:00GMT.

Falling from 54.2 in December to 53.0 at the start of the year, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI Business Activity Index indicated the slowest upturn in services output for 16 months. Growth was reportedly curtailed by the loss of existing clients and lingering concerns surrounding the UK’s exit from the EU. Nonetheless, panelists mentioned that sustained rises in sales, acquisitions and new offerings underpinned output expansion.

The main UK event of the coming week for the Gilt market comes on Thursday when the BoE makes its monetary policy announcement and publishes its latest Inflation Report. No change in policy is expected, and also the MPC is likely to repeat its recent forward guidance, i.e. that further tightening in monetary policy will be required if the economy continues to develop in line with its expectations – and by extension – that another two to three rate hikes might be expected over the next two or three years. But investors should certainly watch for any hints of possible tightening over the near term, which might be flagged in the BoE’s updated economic forecasts.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 traded 1.14 percent lower at 7,358.50 by 10:10 GMT, while at 10:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained slightly bearish at -94.93 (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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