Gilts have opened on the soft side.....>

GILT SUMMARY: Gilts have opened on the soft side with the yield curve shifting

higher by around 1bp with comments from French President Macron for the moment

outweighing the continued US partial government shutdown. 10-yr Gilt yield is

1.2bp higher at 1.349%.

- Macron said in an interview on Sunday that it would be possible for the UK to

get a bespoke trade deal, but only if they accept certain "preconditions". The

French president said that while a special solution could be secured, full

access to the single market without accepting its rules was "not feasible".

- Negations to end the federal government shutdown in the US senate are

continuing and another vote is expected later today. So far the impact of the

partial shutdown has been small, however risk is that it could effect release of

some US data later in the week.

- There is a dearth of UK and Eurozone data released today, so attention likely

to remain on UK and US politics. There are some Gilt coupon payments of

Stg3.33bln scheduled today, which should underpin markets.