The volume and value of UK government bonds changing hands since Britain's decision in June to leave the European Union has soared by as much 400 percent, figures on Tuesday showed. The frenetic trading in UK sovereign debt comes as investors try to chart a path through the uncertain outlook for British economic growth, inflation and interest rates in the coming months and years after the June 23 Brexit vote.
Figures from Trax, a subsidiary of MarketAxess, show that the daily average value of 10-year gilts traded since June is 4.9 billion pounds, almost five times higher than the daily average of 1.1 billion pounds from January through May. The volume of trades has also jumped, more than doubling to a daily average of 263 trades from 110 pre-referendum.
Trading in UK markets has been extremely volatile since June 23. The 10-year gilt yield plunged to a record low 0.5 percent in August but this week rose back above 1.0 percent for the first time since June.