Bonds: No need to pre-judge outcome of June FOMC, Fed´s Bullard says

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

US: 1.86% (-0bp)

UK: 1.46% (-2bp)

Germany: 0.15% (-3bp)

France: 0.47% (-3bp)

Spain: 1.47% (-7bp)

Italy: 1.35% (-7bp)

Portugal: 2.96% (-7bp)

Greece: 7.13% (-10bp)

Japan: -0.08% (+2bp)

Longer-term sovereign bond yields were lower almost across the board on Wednesday after Greece clinched a short-term deal with its creditors to relieve the liquidity-starved country´s dire financial straits and a top US central bank official delivered rather 'neutral' remarks regarding the timing of their next interest rate hike.

Euro area finance ministers approved a second tranche of aid for Athens worth €10.3bn to be paid from the European Stability Mechanism during and after the summer, subject to the country following through with its commitments.

However, much-needed debt relief would conditional in the short-term, until Greece´s creditors were comfortable that there would be no slippage in meetings the targets set for it. Medium and longer-term relief measures were postpone until the middle of 2018.

"The agreement reached between Greece and its eurozone creditors reduces the risk of another Greek liquidity crisis this summer, and incentivises the country to complete its third bail-out programme.

"However, with little debt relief offered upfront, the Greek government may find it progressively more difficult to continue with politically controversial measures required to meet ambitious programme commitments. Implementation risk therefore remains high," Fitch Ratings said in a statement.

Acting as a backdrop, the president of the US Federal Reserve bank of Atlanta, James Bullard, appeared to hold out the possibility that the next step in policy tightening might be postponed until July´s meeting.

"I don't think there's any reason to prejudge the June meeting. We can wait until we get to the meeting, see what the latest data says, and try to make a good decision there," Bullard told CNBC in an interview.

Bullard also said it was not absolutely necessary that the next rate hike be carried out a policy meeting at which a press conference by Fed chair Janet Yellen had been previously scheduled, theoretically opening the door to a rate hike in July.

In the UK, Standard&Poor´s issued a warning that Brexit might "jeopardise" the pound´s status as a reserve currency, with the considerable benefits in terms of 'seignorage' income and lower debt financing costs which it entailed.