At the open: Yields getting killed as investors seek Brexit shield
Stock markets have opened with their typical Friday morning calm today, despite frantic trading since last week's vote to leave the EU.
The FTSE 100 climbed 0.4 per cent in the first chunk of the session to build on yesterday's impressive gains. The index is standing at a 10-month high of 6,530.
With no company rising or falling by a margin of more than 1.5 per cent, traders may be taking some hard-earned rest today and letting things tick over until the close of play.
The action, however, is with government bonds.
UK borrowing costs tumbled to a new record low today following a dramatic fall after governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney geared up to slash interest rates. The yield on 10-year notes hit 0.8 per cent this morning, down seven basis points from yesterday in another steep decline.
Read more: Did Boris Johnson move the currency markets yesterday?
This time last month yields were at 1.3 per cent. Borrowing costs on two-year government debt also edged perilously close to dipping into negative territory. They have fallen from 0.37 per cent to 0.06 per cent in the last month.
Yesterday, borrowing costs turned negative on government debt maturing in March 2018 for the first ever time.
Futures markets indicate the Bank of England will cut rates twice over the summer – as the UK looks set to join the zero interest rate club in the wake of the vote to leave the EU and the political turmoil it triggered.
The pound was also fairly choppy in morning trading, but seems lodged around the $1.33 level for now. After falling yesterday on the back of Carney's comments, it is now trading at $1.3289, down 0.17 per cent against the dollar on the day.