Gilt yields rocket as Bank keeps QE target unchanged

By Christina Fincher

LONDON (Reuters) - Government bonds tumbled on Thursday, propelling 10-year yields almost a fifth of a point higher after the Bank of England announced no increase to its quantitative easing programme.

With the economy still reeling after its sharpest contraction in more than 50 years, markets had widely expected the central bank to increase its asset purchases by 25 billion pounds.

Traders fretted that its decision to leave the target unchanged meant the Bank's unprecedented scheme to buy assets, over 90 percent of which have been gilts, may soon be brought to an end.

Ian Kernohan, an economist at Royal London Asset Management, said the knee-jerk rise in gilt yields gave some indication of the size of the QE premium in gilt prices.

"The problem will be how to exit the QE strategy without causing a significant back up in yields and the cost of funding the government's deficit," he said.

The September gilt future settled 1.45 points lower, sharply underperforming the equivalent Bund future which fell just 24 ticks.

The belly of the curve, where most of the central bank's purchases have been focussed, suffered the most.

The yield on 10-year gilts leapt 18 basis points to 3.80 percent while the two-year gilt yield rose 10 basis points to 1.19 percent.