Bond Auction Previews - 25th August 2026
Previews of UK, EU and US government bond auctions including the size of issuance, time of the auction(s), estimates, redemptions, coupons and analyst commentary.
UK to sell GBP 4bln 4.125% 2033 Treasury Gilt
Analysis:
- The last tap was strong, though not quite as well received as the one before hand amid the yield movements between the two outings.
- For the UK, specifics have been light amid the summer recess. However, attention increasingly turns to the first Budget of the Burnham government this autumn.
- Before that, the September BoE will feature an update on the ongoing active bond activity. Broadly speaking, desks look for a reduction from the current GBP 70bln/yr figure to c. GBP 50bln/yr, again featuring a skew away from the long-end. If correct, modest curve flattening may be seen, a dynamic that may factor in consideration around taps of a duration as the one on offer this week.
Recent History:
- b/c 3.16x, average yield 4.519% & tail 0.2bps
Results due shortly after the 10:00BST bidding deadline
Germany to sell EUR 5bln 2.70% 2028 Schatz
Analysis:
- Note, the EUR 5bln on offer this week is a step down from the EUR 6bln offered in the July issue and early-August reopening. Ahead, the mid-September tap is also due to have EUR 5bln offered.
- A stepdown potentially done to try and spur a better outturn, as German taps have been lacklustre in recent weeks, amid the ongoing upside seen in short-end yields and expectations for an ECB hike in September.
- Further, domestic political uncertainty in and around the Cabinet of Chancellor Merz may be cause for some participants to remain on the sidelines. In addition to the usual summer-lull.
Recent History:
- b/c 1.37x, average yield 2.78% & retention 24.1%
Results due shortly after the 10:30BST bidding deadline
US to sell USD 69bln 2yr Note
US 2-YEAR NOTE RECENT AUCTION HISTORY:
- High Yield: (prev. 4.315%, six-auction avg. 3.963%)
- Tail: (prev. -0.5bps, six-auction avg. 0.2bps)
- Bid-to-Cover: (prev. 2.66x, six-auction avg. 2.61x)
- Dealers: (prev. 9.4%, six-auction avg. 13.0%)
- Directs: (prev. 34.1%, six-auction avg. 30.1%)
- Indirects: (prev. 56.6%, six-auction avg. 56.9%)
Auction days of this kind follow a well-worn sequence: concession building into the bidding deadline, then the tail versus the when-issued level as the verdict, with bid-to-cover and the indirect and dealer takedowns the secondary tells for real-money sponsorship versus balance-sheet warehousing. The three sales on the slate carry different drivers. The Gilt tap sits against the run-in to an autumn Budget and the prospect of a slower active gilt sales pace skewed away from the long end, a combination that has historically been read as modestly flattening-friendly; intermediate maturities of this kind tend to draw better sponsorship than the duration the market fears most. The Schatz is a reduced size against a run of soft German taps, with the short end hostage to hike pricing and reduced sizes typically an attempt to engineer a cleaner outturn; a failure to stop through even on the smaller line would be the more telling signal. The US 2yr is the largest of the three and the cleanest read on front-end demand: the split between indirect and dealer takedown is what separates a sponsored auction from a concession forced onto primary dealers. Beyond the individual results, the pattern across the three gives a same-day cross-check on appetite for duration at the front and belly of curves in three jurisdictions at once.