Bonds: Prices rally ahead of Fed Jackson Hole symposium
These were the movements in some of the most widely-followed 10-year sovereign bond yields:
US: 2.82% (-4p)
UK: 1.22% (-1bp)
Germany: 0.30% (-0bp)
France: 0.65% (-1bp)
Italy: 3.01% (-11bp)
Spain: 1.39% (-6bp)
Portugal: 1.79% (-6bp)
Greece: 4.33% (-1bp)
Japan: 0.10% (+1bp)
Government bonds across the developed world moved higher at the start of the week, as traders waited on the US central bank's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the end of the week.
Bond prices move inversely to their yields.
There was also interest in what the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting, which were set for release on Wednesday, might reveal.
Against that backdrop, and news at the weekend that Venezuela had devalued its currency, the Bolivar, by 95%, longer-dated Gilts lagged behind similarly-dated US Treasuries heading into next week's bank holiday.
Venezuela aside, as well as rating agency Standard&Poor's decision to downgrade Turkey's long-term debt further into 'junk' territory, by one notch to 'B+', the spotlight appeared to be on the release of the latest weekly CFTC data Stateside.
It revealed that speculators had accumulated a record 'short' position in 10-year US Treasuries; hence, according to some strategists, investors were now exposed.
Combined, the above appeared to set the stage for a contrarian move higher in prices on Monday.
Analysts at UBS did nevertheless sounds an optimistic note when it came to the subject of Italian debt risks.
In a research note sent to clients, they argued that when looking out to the medium-term those risks were likely over-priced, although they did see scope for substantial "noise" [on the budget front] heading into the fall.
On the short-end of the US Treasury curve meanwhile, yields were down by two basis points at 2.59%.