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2025-09-18 22:51:54
Sterling and gilts fall, briefly holding steady after Bank of England decision. The pound fell on Thursday, while UK gilt yields rose, reversing the muted market reaction after the Bank of England held interest rates steady and slowed its pace of reducing its gilt holdings. Analysts said the shift appeared more due to stronger US jobs data, which boosted the dollar and sent bond yields higher, than to the Bank of England's policy measures. The pound fell 0.6% to $1.3541, while the 10-year gilt yield rose 5 basis points to 4.67%. "I don't see a clear catalyst for this move other than the fact that momentum seems to be building after US traders joined the fray," said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone. Policymakers voted 7-2 to keep interest rates unchanged at 4% while slowing the annual pace of sales of UK gilts, which the Bank of England purchased between 2009 and 2011, to 70 billion pounds from the current 100 billion pounds, in line with economists' expectations.
