As it happened: FTSE 100 climbs as markets digest Bessent buyback
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The FTSE 100 has closed 0.6 per cent higher after fresh research showed consumer confidence has risen to its highest level in nearly two years.
The GfK consumer confidence index – which polls households on the way they view their finances and economic outlook – jumped three points in August to minus 14.
The figure represents the highest score since August 2024, shortly after the Labour party won the general election.
Miners led gains in London’s blue-chip index after a rally in the gold price. Antofogasta and Endeavor both jumped between four and five per cent. Anglo American – which is undergoing a major strategic overhaul to focus on copper – also climbed 2.8 per cent as metals prices were swept up in a wider flight to commodities.
In the US, markets’ gaze remained locked on the fallout from Scott Bessent’s decision to double a buyback programme of the US’s longer-dated bonds. The Treasury secretary announced on Wednesday plans to ramp up short-term borrowing to buy $4bn worth of 30-year Treasuries – double the amount of the previous quarter.
The move – a radical attempt to keep a lid on the administration’s long-term borrowing costs – initially sparked a 10 basis point fall in 30-year Treasury yields. But throughout Thursday they erased that easing, and climbed by as much as eight basis points even as Bessent foreshadowed further interventions.
“We’re going to increase the size of the buyback,” Bessent told CNBC. “I would note that it could be more than $4bn.”
Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK, said the programme “is not a fix for the key underlying reasons why yields have broken out higher”.
Gold has climbed substantially since Bessent’s announcement, amid fears the move could be a precursor to more drastic bond market intervention. The yellow metal – a popular safe haven asset – climbed to $4,543/oz, its highest price since early June. Meanwhile, the dollar fell to its lowest level against major currencies since April.