Bonds: Yields stabilise after early rally
These were the movements in the yields of some of the most widely-followed 10-year sovereign bonds:
US: 2.24% (-0bp)
UK: 1.04% (-1bp)
Germany: 0.19% (-1bp)
France: 0.92% (-1bp)
Spain: 1.71% (+4bp)
Italy: 2.32% (+2bp)
Portugal: 3.89% (+2bp)
Greece: 6.67% (+1bp)
Japan: 0.03% (+0bp)
Longer-dated Gilts were slightly higher by the close, pushing yields a tad lower after a sharp rally in US Treasuries pushed them as low as 1.01% earlier in the day.
Yields for similarly-dated US Treasuries were essentially flat, but here again they were off their intra-day lows of 2.22% following a sharp slide overnight after the Wall Street Journal published an interview with US President Donald Trump.
During his interview in the Oval Office, Trump reportedly said he likes low interest rates, sparking a slide in US Treasury yields, while taking aim at the US dollar's strength.
He also apparently left the door open to Fed chief Janet Yellen being renominated to her post when her current term expires in 2018.
Back in the UK, all eyes were on the Bank of England's credit conditions survey for the first quarter of 2017.
It showed banks had already begun to tighten conditions on unsecured lending, something that some officials on the MPC were closely watching to see if it ocurred due to the possibility that too much risk is building up in the system.
On a more worrying note, said Dr.Howard Archer, chief UK+European economist at IHS Markit, the survey also revealed that firms were dialing back on their plans for capital investment, possibly due to the uncertainty around what the end-game in the upcoming Brexit negotiations with the EU was most likely to be.
"The credit conditions survey fuels concern that businesses will become increasingly cautious in their behaviour (especially investment) over the coming months as due to mounting concerns and uncertainty over the economic outlook as likely difficult negotiations with the EU get underway over Brexit following triggering of Article 50 and as softer consumer spending weighs down on the economy."