EGBs-GILTS CASH CLOSE: Peripheries Impress As ECB Hawks Explain Dissents

The German and UK curves finished a busy week on a fairly flat note, though notably yields ended well below intraday highs. Periphery spreads narrowed, with risk appetite gaining (equities stronger).

• Friday's ECB talk was all about the hawkish dissenting voices: Weidmann and Wunsch explaining why they objected to the new policy guidance.
• Flash July PMI data were mixed, while still pointing to a sustained expansion in economic activity. Germany surprised higher, France was a touch weaker than expected and the UK posted a significant miss. Earlier, UK retail sales figures were broadly better than expected.
• The German PMI beat sent Bunds much lower initially, but the move soon reversed.
• After hours Friday sees ratings reviews: Moody's on Cyprus and DBRS on EFSF, ESM.

Closing Yields / 10-Yr Periphery EGB Spreads To Germany

• Germany: The 2-Yr yield is down 0.6bps at -0.726%, 5-Yr is down 0.2bps at -0.704%, 10-Yr is up 0.6bps at -0.42%, and 30-Yr is up 0.8bps at 0.061%.
• UK: The 2-Yr yield is up 1bps at 0.079%, 5-Yr is up 1.3bps at 0.279%, 10-Yr is up 1.8bps at 0.584%, and 30-Yr is up 0.3bps at 1.005%.
• Italian BTP spread down 2.5bps at 103.8bps / Spanish down 2.1bps at 69.1bps