BoE baulks at gilt buybacks as traders drive up prices

UK gilts extended declines as the Bank of England refused to buy bonds maturing in 2017 in Monday's auction, after traders aggressively drove up prices.

The Bank rejected all bids against the bonds it had been planning to buy as part of its QE programme as dealers drove the price of the bonds, which yield 8.75%, up to £140.78 ahead of the auction in the hope of selling the bonds back to the Bank. The yield on a 10-year gilt climbed as the Bank said in a statement it had decided “to reject all offers against UKT 8.75 25/08/17 following significant changes in its yield in the run up to the auction,” Bloomberg reports. Gilts had dropped earlier, along with bunds, after Germany and France’s leaders pledged to hammer out a plan to recapita...