Bonds: Gilts find bid after previous day's sell-off
These were the movements in some of the most widely-followed 10-year sovereign bond yields:
US: 2.42% (+3bp)
UK: 1.33% (-1bp)
Germany: 0.37% (-2bp)
France: 0.68% (-3bp)
Italy: 1.75% (-4bp)
Spain: 1.45% (-4bp)
Portugal: 1.87% (-6bp)
Greece: 5.45% (-3bp)
Japan: 0.04% (+1bp)
Longer-term Gilts found a small bid on Thursday which weighed on yields following the prior day's surge as UK debt de-linked for the time being from US Treasuries as analysts in the UK continued to focus on the news-flow regarding the Irish question.
A report earlier in the day had indicated that the DUP might withdraw its support for the Prime Minister.
Stateside, it was all about US Senators' push to get their tax proposals across the line, with Treasuries coming under pressure after Arizona's John McCain said he would support the legislation.
Nevertheless, with just a two person majority in the 100-seat chamber, Republicans would only be able to withstand two dissenting votes from within their own ranks, yet it was thought possible that as many as four Senators might vote 'nay'.
To take note of, in an interview with Bloomberg TV Minneapolis Fed chief Loretta Mester argued that the US central bank needed to be preemptive.
"I've been on that case for a while, that we really need to be moving interest rates up gradually, given where the economy is," she said.
As far as the latest batch of US economic activity data ws concerned, it came in stronger than expected, but a key gauge of price pressures in the economy failed to pick-up as expected.
It was a similar story across the Channel, with euro area consumer prices also failing to find the expected traction last month.