Danny Walker, Dong Lou and Semih Üslü

Authorities bond yields are inclined to drift increased within the days earlier than financial coverage or information information within the UK. Over the previous twenty years this tendency – which we label ‘pre-news drift’ – has pushed up on yields by 2 share factors in complete over that interval. The drift concentrates in pre-news intervals that coincide with the issuance of UK authorities bonds, which is extra frequent than it was once. Our evaluation exhibits that sellers and hedge funds are reluctant to purchase bonds when information is on its approach, which pushes up yields. Pre-news drift may have an effect on the sign financial coverage makers draw from market charges and it may have implications for the optimum timing of bond issuance. There are additional particulars in an related working paper.

Bond yields drift increased when financial coverage bulletins or macroeconomic information information are anticipated

Bond yields transfer round when information is launched, particularly information that tells buyers one thing about financial coverage or the economic system. That received’t be shocking to anybody. It’s a lot much less apparent that yields ought to transfer in any explicit route earlier than the information has arrived. However that’s precisely what we observe within the historic information for the UK: an inclination that we label ‘pre-news drift’.

We analyse UK authorities bond yields since Financial institution of England independence in 1997 and give attention to intervals within the lead as much as financial coverage bulletins by the Monetary Policy Committee and inflation and labour market information releases by the ONS – each of that are scheduled releases, and subsequently anticipated by the market.

Chart 1 exhibits that bond yields are inclined to drift upwards on common within the two days earlier than the information is launched. They have a tendency to float down on days which might be outdoors these home windows. This pre-news drift isn’t small – it has pushed up on yields by 2 share factors, which compares to a complete fall of 6–7 share factors since 1997. We present within the paper that the drift has been bigger at longer maturities and is usually accounted for by risk premia, somewhat than financial coverage expectations. On this weblog we set out our evaluation of what’s behind the drift.

Chart 1: Bond yields are inclined to rise within the two days earlier than financial coverage bulletins or macroeconomic information releases within the UK, they usually fall outdoors of these intervals

Sources: Financial institution of England and ONS.

The pre-news drift is concentrated in intervals after the DMO has issued authorities bonds

Pre-news drift seems to be associated to the timing of the issuance of UK authorities bonds – referred to as gilts – by the Debt Management Office (DMO). The pre-news drift proven in Chart 1 nearly solely happens in pre-news home windows which might be preceded by bond issuance. This might imply, for instance, home windows the place bond issuance on a Tuesday is adopted both by a labour market information launch on Wednesday or a financial coverage announcement on Thursday (or each).

Easy regressions detailed within the paper – which management for different related components – reveal that the day by day change in 10 and 20-year UK yields throughout pre-news home windows is round 0.5 foundation factors bigger on common than yield modifications outdoors pre-news home windows. That may be considered a baseline. However this distinction rises as excessive as 1.1 foundation factors when the pre-news window is preceded by bond issuance. Cumulating these small variations in day by day yield modifications over a number of years explains the a lot bigger 2 share level upwards drift highlighted in Chart 1.

You may count on the pre-news drift to unwind after the information has arrived – in any other case yields would stay completely increased. We use regressions to analyse this within the paper and discover no clear proof for a reversal of the pre-news drift over the next couple of days. However in fact this doesn’t rule out it taking place. A reversal can be in line with the downwards drift in different intervals proven in Chart 1.

Occasions the place financial coverage and macroeconomic information information coincide with bond issuance are more and more frequent

The issuance of UK authorities debt has elevated prior to now couple of many years – gross issuance averaged £26 billion within the Nineties and £140 billion within the 2010s. This has meant that there are an increasing number of intervals the place financial coverage bulletins and macroeconomic information releases are preceded by DMO issuance: the pre-news home windows in our evaluation.

Chart 2 exhibits that in some years each financial coverage announcement was preceded by DMO bond issuance. These traits imply that the pre-news drift that we describe on this weblog has been – and can doubtless stay – an necessary function of the bond market.

Chart 2: It has grow to be more and more frequent for financial coverage choices or macroeconomic information releases to be preceded by UK authorities bond issuance lower than two days earlier

Sources: Financial institution of England, DMO and ONS.

The restricted intermediation capability of sellers and hedge funds explains the drift

Why does pre-news drift occur? Our evaluation exhibits that the reply comes right down to the behaviour of monetary intermediaries like funding banks – or dealers – and hedge funds. Recent work has highlighted the significance of stability sheet constraints for bond market dynamics. Sellers within the UK bond market are answerable for shopping for a share of newly issued authorities bonds after which they have a tendency to promote them on to different buyers. However we use transaction-level data to point out that when information is anticipated, sellers don’t need to be caught holding too many bonds in case the information causes sudden value drops. Because of this, they rush to promote the bonds they purchase within the public sale, which pushes costs down and drives yields up.

Our evaluation additionally factors to a shift in who steps in to purchase bonds throughout pre-news intervals. Hedge funds, that are often lively consumers, have a tendency to drag again as a result of they need to keep away from committing to positions which may want reversing nearer to the information occasion. Of their place, much less lively buyers – akin to pension funds – tackle an even bigger position. These buyers assist preserve market liquidity, however additionally they demand increased returns for taking up threat throughout these intervals, once more driving yields up.

Is pre-news drift only a UK factor?

There’s a temptation to imagine that the pre-news drift reveals one thing distinctive concerning the UK’s authorities bond market. Certainly, a recent study confirmed that yields drift in the wrong way – downwards – round Federal Reserve (FOMC) financial coverage bulletins within the US, which is inconsistent with our evaluation at face worth. Nonetheless, Chart 3 exhibits that if we give attention to FOMC bulletins which might be preceded by issuance of US treasuries – the blue line within the chart – yields drift upwards, very like they do within the UK. This implies that comparable market dynamics is perhaps at play within the US as effectively.

Chart 3: Whereas US bond yields are inclined to fall round Federal financial coverage bulletins, they rise when these bulletins are preceded by issuance of US treasuries

Supply: Financial institution of England.

Coverage implications

Pre-news drift has implications for financial and financial policymakers and divulges a slender channel by way of which financial and financial coverage work together. First, pre-news drift may pollute the sign that financial coverage makers ought to draw from market rates of interest. Using averaging intervals for market charges helps keep away from undue emphasis on short-term volatility in charges. But when it persists, the drift may create a necessity for policymakers to change their coverage choices to offset modifications in market charges that don’t mirror the financial outlook. In keeping with this, in our paper we present that pre-news drift tends to be adopted by greater strikes in market charges round financial coverage bulletins. Second, there are implications for a way issuers decide the socially optimum timing of presidency bond issuance – it would make sense for them to keep away from intervals the place there may be impending information.

Danny Walker works within the Governors’ workplaces, Dong Lou is professor at London Faculty of Economics and HKUST and Semih Üslü is a professor at Johns Hopkins College.

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