The combination of beta to Tsys, this morning’s gilt remit revision and softer-than-expected UK PMI data has driven gilt outperformance vs. Bunds, with the UK/German 10-Year yield spread ~8bp tighter on the day at 202bp.
- The spread currently trades around the middle of its year-to-date range (177-227bp, based on closing levels).
- Gilt bulls were unable to force a break below 200bp, with the spread basing at 200.4bp around 12:00 BST.
- Gilt bulls have not managed to push the spread back below the 200bp mark since the break above on April 9.
- Potential meaningful reallocation flows out of Tsys have made the spread particularly difficult to trade in recent weeks, as have a couple of instances of reduced liquidity further out the UK curve.
- Outside of the intraday noise, longer term focus continues to fall on relative fiscal outlooks, with the UK already experiencing limited fiscal headroom, while Germany has pledged meaningful fiscal expansion, which is set to drive an uptick in issuance over the medium-term.