Bonds: Prices continue to move within recent trading ranges
These were the moves in some of the most widely-followed 10-year sovereign bonds:
US: 2.43% (+10bp)
UK:1.34% (+3bp)
Germany: 0.36% (+4bp)
France: 0.83% (+4bp)
Italy: 1.96% (+4bp)
Spain: 1.45% (+6bp)
Portugal: 3.84% (+0bp)
Japan: 0.06% (+1bp)
Greece: 7.09% (-2bp)
Longer-term Gilts prices were lower on Wednesday, retracing part of their recent gains as the main sovereign bonds continued to move within their recent trading ranges.
Weighing on prices, and hence pushing yields higher, the US central bank´s so-called 'Beige book' pointed to a modest pace of economic expansion in the States at the end of 2016, amid a tighter jobs market.
"District reports cited widespread difficulties in finding workers for skilled positions; several also noted problems recruiting for less-skilled jobs," the Federal Reserve´s survey of regional anecdotes revealed.
"Most districts said wage pressures had increased," it said.
Acting as a backdrop, US consumer prices rose by 0.3% month-on-month and 2.2% year-on-year in December, as expected by economists.
"By the end of Q1, headline inflation will be at about 2-3/4%, pushing up consumers’ inflation expectations, while the core likely will be little changed. Over the course of this year, though, we expect the core to rise towards 3%, leaving the Fed very exposed," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in reaction to Wednesday´s data.
To take note of, in a late afternoon speech Fed chair Janet Yellen indicated told an audience that short-term interest rates would likely head back towards 3% by the end of 2019.