Brexit jitters see UK 10-year gilt yields plumb record lows

At 13:42 BST, UK 10-year gilt yields were down 1 basis point to 1.24%. Same time, safe-have gold was trading at £1262.2 an ounce.

"The low yield on government bonds paints a pretty pessimistic picture of the global economy, and suggests we are set for an extended period of low or negative inflation, and weak economic performance," said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

The gilts' appeal has been fanned by Britain's looming in-out vote to decide its European Union membership on 23 June.

Sterling, down 0.21% to $1.4474, has been batted around by various polls that various suggest UK will leave the EU or that it will not -- Brexit and Bremain respectively.

Concerns centre on the economic impact a so-called Brexit -- where UK quits the single-currency bloc -- would have on the British, European and global economies, and specifically investments in sterling and UK equities.

That has driven an investor flight to safety, which has in turn forced UK 10-year gilt yields down to levels not seen since at least 1989, and perhaps longer.