British government bond yields jumped again to the highest in nearly 30 years

Yields on British twenty- and thirty-year government bonds (gilts) rose on Ma. 15 to the highest level since 1998, exceeding the local peak reached earlier this week, noted Reuters. Market participants continued to sell off British debt securities amid concerns over Britain's growing domestic political crisis, as well as global inflation, which hit the global government bond market on Friday. All this also pushed the yield on 10-year British gilts to the highest level since 2008.

According to LSEG data cited by the agency, the yield on 30-year British gilts rose 17 basis points to 5.822% on Ma 15, which exceeded the previous jump in their yields to 5.813% recorded this week. The yield on 20-year bonds, meanwhile, reached 5.766% on Ma 15 (also up about 17 basis points). The yield on 10-year Gilts rose 14 basis points to 5.133%, the highest level since 2008, Reuters points out.

The Financial Times (FT) notes that following the rise in British government bond yields in trading on Ma 15 to a one-month low, the British pound fell to a one-month low (down 0.4% against the U.S. dollar, to $1.34).

Investors, already worried about fiscal problems caused by the war in the Middle East, fear that the situation could be exacerbated by a possible change of the Labor leader - and as a consequence the country's prime minister, the newspaper notes.

Pressure is mounting on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his Labor Party's defeat in local elections in early Ma. Nearly a quarter of his party's MPs publicly called on Starmer to resign, but he responded by saying that the election of a new Labor leader would lead to "chaos" and devastating uncertainty for business. To resign Starmer, he said, has no intention of resigning. However, the number of candidates for his post continues to increase by the day. The FT reported on May 15 that Starmer may also be challenged for the leadership of the Labor Party by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. He needs the support of 20% of Labor MPs to be nominated.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor