Yield on UK five-year government bonds falls to new record low

LONDON (Reuters) – The yield on five-year British government bonds fell to a record low just above zero on Thursday as investors priced in the possibility of negative interest rates by the Bank of England.

The yield on the five-year gilt was down about five basis points on the day at 0.006% shortly after 1345 GMT.

Britain’s debt office tapped into strong demand from investors earlier on Thursday at an auction of 2 billion pounds ($2.45 billion) of 12-year gilts .

At an auction on Wednesday, Britain sold its first bond with a negative yield.

(Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)