Gilts and sterling have barely moved after the Budget, which markets had largely priced in, and the FTSE 100 has turned positive. The bank ING, quoted by FXStreet, says the index has reversed its earlier losses to trade up 0.2%, gilt yields have fallen moderately and sterling is mostly flat.
That follows falls on Budget morning, when the FTSE 100 was down 0.30% and sterling was down 0.14% at $1.3288.
Portfolio Adviser reports that gilts outperformed US Treasuries by five basis points. James Bilson, global fixed income strategist at Schroders, told it the Budget was "uneventful". He said that "this is exactly what the bond market wanted to see".
ActionForex says headroom against the fiscal rules is £15bn, down from £23.6bn, and that this broadly matched market expectations. The figure is in line with the buffer of around £15bn that FXStreet had expected before the statement.