Gilts have given back some of their....>

GILT SUMMARY: Gilts have given back some of their sharp opening gains but still

remain higher on the day as markets react to overnight sell-off in US and Asian

markets, but now witnessing a small bounce in S&P 500 futures. 10-yr Gilt yield

is 3.2bp lower at 1.527% vs session low of 1.509%, while the curve is bull

steepening.

- S&P closed over 4% lower last night, while Japan Nikkei 225 ended this morning

4.73% lower as markets worried over Fed raising interests at a slightly faster

pace. 

- Closer to home, BRC like-for-like retails sales remained steady in Jan rising

0.6% y/y, with non-food sales under pressure due to rising food purchases.

- 3-days of Brexit transitional talks get underway in Brussels today, but only

at a technical level, with the UK hoping a deal can be reached by the time of

the EU summit meeting on March 22.

- The DMO is widely expected to open books for its syndicated re-opening of a

30-yr linker Gilt today and so far they are underperforming nominal Gilts with

30-yr breakevens 1.3bp tighter.