UK gilts gain amid muted trading session ahead of PM May’s departure on June 7

The United Kingdom’s gilts gained during European session Thursday amid a muted trading session that witnessed data of little economic significance ahead of the departure of Prime Minister Theresa May on June 7.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, surged nearly 2 basis points to 0.911 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields rose nearly 1-1/2 basis points to 1.503 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year jumped nearly 3-1/2 basis points to 0.628 percent by 10:35GMT.

While UK politics will continue to dominate the headlines today, today’s economic data further highlighted the adverse impact on UK manufacturers of persistent political uncertainty surrounding Brexit, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), car production crashed in April as manufacturers had brought forward and extended factory shutdowns normally scheduled for the summer in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit at the end of March.

Indeed, car production was down compared with a year earlier for the eleventh consecutive month in April and by a whopping 45 percent y/y. So, this left production in the year-to-date down by more than a fifth compared with the equivalent period in 2018.

While the weakness in the SMMT figures in the first quarter was less pronounced than in the official IP release in Q1, today’s figures suggested that auto production will continue to be a notable drag on output growth at the start of Q2, the report added.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 remained 0.80 percent higher at 7,288.25 by 10:40GMT, while at 10:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained neutral at -17.12 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex