Bonds: Fedspeak, ECB report push bond prices higher

These were the movements in some of the most widely-followed 10-year sovereign bond yields:

US: 2.38% (-4bp)

UK: 1.15% (-4bp)
Germany: 0.34% (-4bp)
France: 0.93% (-3bp)
Spain: 1.64% (-4bp)
Italy: 2.14% (-2bp)
Portugal: 4.0% (-7bp)
Greece: 6.95% (-16bp)
Japan: 0.06% (0bp)

Bond prices were higher across the board amid a spate of relatively 'as expected' or even somewhat 'dovish' remarks from Fed officials.

A report from Reuters that rate-setters at the European Central Bank were wary of making any further changes to their policy messagge may also have played a hand.

Traders in FX markets certainly appeared to react to that report, sending the European single currency to eight-day lows against the US dollar at 1.0741.

As for the triggering of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by the Prime Minister, markets appeared to take it in stride, likely as the decision had been well-telegraphed in advance.

Reports indicated UK officials had broached with their European counterparts the importance of entering talks with a constructive attitude (and apparently received a positive response).

Over in the States, speaking overnight, one of Federal Reserve's governors, Jerome Powell, said the central bank should move deliberately, slowly, gradually towards a more neutral stance of monetary policy, Market News International reported.

He was followed on Wednesday by the president of the Chicago Fed, Charles Evans, who said he could support one or two more interest rate hikes in 2017, somewhat less than the two which most of his colleagues were expecting.

Fed vice chairman Stanley Fischer on the other hand toed the central bank's current line that two more hikes this year "seems about right".

In timely fashion, commenting on the current outlook for policy from the world's main central banks, Capital Economics said: "Policymakers in the world’s major central banks have struck a more hawkish tone in recent weeks, but we expect policy to be tightened only in the US this year. While the ECB may announce plans to taper its asset purchases as soon as September, suggestions that it will end its planned purchases early or raise rates this year look misplaced.

"Meanwhile, both the Bank of Japan and Bank of England look set to leave policy on hold."

It was light in terms of economic data on Wednesday.

On the downside, mortgage approvals for new home purchases in the UK slipped from 69,114 in January to 68,315 for February (consensus: 69,100) - the first decline in six months.

An index of pending home sales in the US on the other hand jumped by 5.5% month-on-month in February (consensus: 2.5%).