Carney Seeing Exit Hurts Gilts as Yellen Bides Time: U.K. Credit

Shorter-maturity government bonds are heading for their worst first half in six years as Britain prepares to become the first major economy to begin exiting emergency stimulus.

Yields on two-year notes, the most sensitive to Bank of England interest-rate expectations, rose 35 basis points this year to 0.89 percent. That’s pushed the average yield on debt maturing between one and three years to the most since 2009 relative to global peers, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes.