SCANDIS: Risks To Riksbank and Norges Bank Decisions Appear Bullish For NOKSEK

Asked by Sky News whether he will commit to retaining the fiscal rules exactly as they are, PM Sir Keir Starmer demurs. Prime Minister says that the fiscal rules are very important and will not be set aside, but does not give a definitive answer to the question of whether they will be kept as-is. 

• Speaking ahead of the PM, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said that the gov't would stick to the rules, adding "When Britain talks about economic stability, we really mean it." However, as with Starmer she did not wholly commit to sticking to the current fiscal rules, rather than potentially altered rules in the future.
• Starmer reiterates commitment to not raising income tax, VAT or national insurance on employees. 

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is delivering a speech at a Jaguar Land Rover plant in the West Midlands, his first major address since US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of 'reciprocal' tariffs last week. Livestream here. Starmer: "To carmakers, we are going to back you to the hilt". Says "this is a moment for urgency," and that "Tariffs are a huge challenge for our future, [the] global economic consequences could be profound." 

• Starmer: "We are in an age of instability... This is not a passing phase."
• Starmer says the UK "Will seek the best deal with the US", Adds the UK "will work with key partners to reduce barriers to trade across the globe."
• PM says it is not just car industry that needs support, but other sectors including life sciences. Says gov't will cut timeline for clinical trials to start from 250 to 150 days, and a GBP600mln investment into health data research.
• He does not announce any specifics on retaliation to the US tariffs. The UK is not expected to launch significant retaliatory tariffs against the US, with the Starmer gov't maintaining its stance of trying to act as a bridge between the US and EU both in terms of economic talks, and on defence of Ukraine. 

• All of the bids were confined to three gilts in that operation (with residual maturities between 10-12.5 years.
• Gilt futures are at their lows of the day, but it's hard to isolate any response to the APF result as they were already moving lower.
• That wasn't a great operation though - of the 35 medium-dated APF sales operations so far, this one had the third worst bid-to-cover.