UK sells 20-year gilt with longest yield tail since 2009

LONDON: Britain sold a 20-year government bond on Thursday with the largest yield tail since the depths of the financial crisis, highlighting investors' uncertainty about the right price to bid at auction.

Ten-year gilt yields are down more than 10 basis points on the day at 1.41 percent as investors sought safe assets amid deep uncertainty about whether Prime Minister Theresa May can pass a Brexit deal through parliament.

The spread between 10-year and 30-year gilts is more than 11 basis points wider on the day, on track for the biggest daily widening since February 2009.

The UK Debt Management Office sold 2 billion pounds ($2.56 billion) of a 1.75 pct 2037 gilt with a comfortable bid-to-cover ratio of 1.75. But it had to accept bids with yields more than 5 basis points above average, the largest yield tail since March 2009.

The last time the gilt sold, the yield tail was 0.1 basis points.