Trade Deficit Widens In UK,Possible Recession Looms

The Bank of England has suffered a setback in the bond markets in its first attempt to buy long-dated debt under its new QE programme, according to Reuters.

The Bank of England failed to get enough offers for its planned purchase of £1.17bn of government bonds with maturities longer than 15 years, sending gilt yields to new record lows across a range of maturities.

The BoE said it received offers worth £1.118bn, resulting in an uncovered reverse auction in its first attempt to buy long-dated debt since it restarted its quantitative easing asset purchase programme after nearly four years.

The central bank said it would announce its response to the shortfall on Wednesday at 0800 GMT.

Twenty-year gilt yields hit a record low of 1.212 percent and were last down 5 basis points at 1.22 percent. Thirty-year yields hit a record low of 1.374 percent, and were last down 4.9 basis points at 1.385 percent.