GBP/USD at 1.6675 after BOE Comments

U.K. government bonds rose for a third day after a measure of U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly worsened in February, boosting demand for the safest fixed-income securities.

Benchmark gilts rallied along with Treasuries and German bunds as the New York-based Conference Board said its index of American consumer confidence declined to 78.1 in February from a revised 79.4 the previous month. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted a reading of 80. The pound strengthened for a second day against the dollar and euro after Bank of England policy maker Ian McCafferty said the currency’s strength was not yet a “major problem” for exporters.

“We’ve seen some soft patches in the U.S. data and that’s affected gilts as well,” said Peter Osler, head of rates strategy at broker Marex Spectron Group Ltd. in London. “Overall, we see any decline in gilt yields as temporary as the economic recovery in the U.K. is pretty solid.”

Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.