gilts

European financials are among the day's biggest fallers as benchmark French and German indices struggle amid intensifying geopolitical concerns.

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The increasing likelihood of former US treasury secretary Larry Summers becoming Fed chairman next year has prompted a further spike in bond yields, analysts suggest.

Fears over the end of QE in the US and stronger data from the eurozone caused UK and US government bond yields to jump on Monday, surprising investors.

London's leading share index fell quickly into the red after new Bank of England (BoE) governor Mark Carney unveiled plans to issue market's forward guidance on interest rates.

Sterling and gilt yields have jumped this morning after the latest Monetary Policy Committee minutes revealed Mark Carney and all other MPC members voted against more QE in July.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking into claims traders intentionally pushed up the price of government bonds before attempting to sell them to the Bank of England (BoE) in 2011.

Over the past month losses have racked up across bond sectors after comments from the Federal Reserve signalling the end of quantitative easing spooked global markets.

The FTSE 100 dropped sharply on Thursday morning following the wider market sell-off, while gilt yields spiked to their high level in over a year, after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said QE would be slowed later this year.

More than half of advisers believe pensions invested in lifestyle funds are riskier than they were twelve months ago, as a result of speculation about a bubble in the bond market.