Bonds: Eurozone periphery debt outperforms

These were the movements in some of the most widely-followed 10-year sovereign bond yields:

US: 2.47% (0bp)

UK: 1.47% (+2bp)
Germany: 0.40% (+3bp)
France: 0.87% (+6bp)
Italy: 2.0% (-4bp)
Spain: 1.50% (-1bp)
Portugal: 3.83% (-2bp)
Greece: 0.09% (+3bp)
Japan: 6.72% (+2bp)

Longer-term Gilts slipped a tad on Monday, pushing their yields higher, as an early surge in crude oil futures pushed government bonds lower during the first part of the session on both sides of the Atlantic.

At one point in the day, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was up six basis points at 2.53% - their highest level since September 2015 - but later fell back.

In the UK it was all about 'Brexit-watch', with the Chancellor telling the Treasury Select Committee that both the European Union and the UK would benefit from a transition period following the exit of Britain from that European club of nations, which saw Sterling gain.

The above came against the backdrop of a tense wait for traders ahead of policy decisions from the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England.

Markets were increasingly on the look-out for any hints of a change in rate-setters' outlook for economic growth and inflation after US president-elect Donald Trump´s recent win.

In that regard, analysts were expressing special interest in the next set of short-term macroeconomic projections from the Fed.

Eurozone periphery debt outperformed, boosted by news that Italy might, possibly, have a new government before the week was out, and that finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan would be retained as finance minister.

Indeed, credit spreads for the four largest Italian lenders included in the iTraxx sub-fins index on average tightened by six basis points.