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Gilt sell off deepens after worse than expected public finance data
Government borrowing costs have hit their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis as worse-than-expected public finance data compounded a gilt sell-off on worries over soaring inflation and rising interest rates.
Yields on 10-year UK government bonds, also known as gilts, surged above 4.9% at one stage on Friday, up from 4.78% on Thursday and hitting an 18-year high.
Two-year gilts were also up another 11 percentage points at 4.52% on Friday after reaching their highest since January 2025 on Thursday in the worst one-day sell off for the short-dated bonds since the mini-budget market chaos in 2022.
Yields move inversely to prices, meaning they rise as prices fall.
It comes after official figures showed Government borrowing last month jumped unexpectedly to the second highest February level since records began, adding to worries over an impending crisis for the public finances from the Iran war and surging inflation.
The Bank of England held interest rates on Thursday and warned over sharply higher inflation that raised the spectre of possible rate hikes if the war and energy price shock is prolonged.
This had already sent gilt yields racing higher, with the latest public finance statistics adding to the woes and compounding the headache for Chancellor Rachel Reeves as it sent borrowing costs rising.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector borrowing stood at £14.3 billion in February, £2.2 billion higher than a year ago and nearly double the £7.4 billion forecast by the UK’s fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), in November last year.
It defied expectations for a fall, with most economists expecting borrowing of £8.8 billion for February.
Borrowing for the 11 months of the financial year to March so far stood at £125.9 billion, £11.9 billion less than in the same period the previous year and £1.9 billion below the OBR’s November forecast of £127.8 billion.
Experts cautioned the rising gilts yields will leave Ms Reeves will little firepower to protect households from the impending energy bill shock caused by the war.
Elliott Jordan-Doak, senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “We estimate that increases in gilt yields will cut the Chancellor’s headroom by £7.1 billion in 2030/31, if sustained at current levels.”
“The Chancellor will again have to make difficult decisions in the autumn budget unless hostilities end quickly and energy prices subside,” he warned.
Martin Beck, chief economist at WPI Strategy, said public finances would be hit hard if the Iran war is prolonged.
He said: “The shock to energy prices creates a double squeeze for the public finances if it persists.
“Higher oil and gas prices would lift North Sea revenues, and stronger inflation could boost receipts from VAT and frozen tax allowances, but those gains would likely be outweighed by the damage to tax revenues from weaker growth and higher public spending on welfare, debt interest costs, and pressure for fiscal support for households and energy-intensive businesses.”
The data showed Government borrowing in February was pushed up by £13 billion of debt interest payments – a record February high and £5.5 billion up on a year ago – due to increases in Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation impacting index-linked gilts and the timing of debt interest payments from January that fell into last month.
James Murray, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: “Because of the choices we made before the conflict in the Middle East began, we are better prepared for a more volatile world.
“We doubled our headroom and borrowing was forecast to be lower than the G7 average.”
But shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Labour have raised taxes by £66 billion but still can’t control borrowing.”
I didn’t know Epstein was a predator – Norway’s crown princess
Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has told the country’s national broadcaster that she wishes she had never met late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, breaking seven weeks of silence after the extent of her contact with him emerged.
Mette-Marit made the comments in a 20-minute interview in which she was often on the verge of tears.
Seven weeks ago, Norwegians discovered that the crown princess had exchanged hundreds of emails with the disgraced financier between 2011 and 2014, and stayed in his Florida house when he was not there.
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Gold prices are crashing in India right now, and the real reason will surprise you | – The Times of India
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the bullion market lately, you’re probably scratching your head. Normally, when geopolitical tensions flare up in the Middle East, investors panic. They dump riskier assets and run straight to the ultimate safe haven: gold. But right now? The exact opposite is happening. Despite ongoing global conflicts, gold prices in India and across the globe are taking a noticeable hit.So, what exactly is going on? Why is the yellow metal losing its shine when it should technically be rallying? Let’s break down the real reasons behind the sudden drop.
The US Fed is playing spoilsport
The biggest weight dragging gold down right now is sitting in Washington. The US Federal Reserve has decided to keep interest rates steady, hovering in the 3.5% to 3.75% range. More importantly, they’ve made it clear that they aren’t planning to cut those rates anytime soon.
Why does this matter for gold? It’s simple. Gold is a non-yielding asset. It just sits in a locker; it doesn’t pay you a monthly dividend or interest. When US Treasury bonds start offering high, risk-free returns because of the Fed’s hawkish stance, big institutional investors take notice. They pull their money out of gold and park it in bonds to chase that guaranteed yield.
The dollar is flexing its muscles
Alongside high interest rates, the US Dollar is having a massive moment. The US Dollar Index (DXY) recently surged past the 100 mark.Since gold is priced globally in dollars, a stronger dollar makes the metal significantly more expensive for buyers using other currencies, including the Indian Rupee. When it costs more rupees to buy the same ounce of gold, global and domestic demand naturally cools off. That drop in demand pulls the price down right along with it.
The great oil paradox
This is where things get really interesting. You’d think the Middle East conflict would send gold skyrocketing. But there’s a catch.The conflict has severely disrupted energy supplies, pushing crude oil past a painful $100 a barrel. Expensive oil means almost everything gets more expensive to produce and transport. That sparks fears of sticky, long-lasting inflation. To fight off that inflation, central banks have to keep borrowing costs high.
It’s a vicious cycle. The geopolitical fear is actually fueling inflation, which keeps interest rates elevated, which ultimately hurts gold’s appeal. Right now, the market cares way more about inflation data than it does about geopolitical anxiety.
Cashing out after a crazy run
Let’s not forget the context. Before this recent dip, gold had an absolutely historic, record-breaking run, crossing $5,500 an ounce globally.When any asset climbs that fast and that high, a pullback is inevitable. Traders and institutional investors are simply taking a breather and booking their profits. On top of that, with the broader stock market seeing some wild volatility, many funds are facing margin calls. To raise cash quickly, they are forced to sell off assets that are easy to liquidate. Gold, which trades around the clock, is usually the first thing on the chopping block.
The desi twist: Festival selling
Here in India, the timing of this global sell-off created a unique domestic trend. We usually associate festivals like Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, and Chaitra Navratri with heavy retail gold buying.Not this time. Because prices had hit such astronomical highs just before the festive season, the script flipped. Smart domestic investors and traders actually used the traditional buying season as an opportunity to offload their precious metals and lock in those massive profits. That sudden wave of localized selling added even more downward pressure on Indian gold rates.Ultimately, the gold market is incredibly volatile right now. Sharp drops are often followed by rapid bounces as buyers swoop in to grab a bargain.
Payton Sandfort’s surprise for brother Pryce caps Nebraska’s March Madness win
OKLAHOMA CITY — Thousands of Nebraska fans flocked into the Paycom Center on Thursday morning, hoping to see the Huskers capture the program’s first NCAA tournament win. But 10 minutes before tipoff, junior forward Pryce Sandfort saw someone he didn’t expect: his brother.
Less than 12 hours earlier, Payton Sandfort was in New York City, eating a postgame dinner with the Oklahoma City Thunder after making his NBA debut in the Thunder’s 121-92 win against the Brooklyn Nets.
But Payton, a rookie forward who signed a two-way contract with the Thunder earlier this month, caught a 3 a.m. taxi and a 6 a.m. flight to surprise his younger brother before Nebraska’s 11:40 a.m. local time tipoff, coincidentally on his team’s home court.
“He’s been lying to me this whole week,” Pryce said with a laugh after scoring 23 points on seven 3-pointers and a pair of free throws in Nebraska’s historic 76-47 win against Troy. “He told me he wasn’t able to make it, so I’m telling everybody that.”
Not only did Payton make his NBA debut Wednesday night, but he also scored his first points — fittingly on a 3-pointer.
Before Pryce transferred to Nebraska, he and Payton spent two seasons together playing at Iowa.
“It was the first time he made points last night, and then he showed up for this game,” Pryce said. “It was unreal seeing him up there.
“The support we got — I got my family, but just the whole crowd in general. That might have been the best environment I’ve ever played in, home, neutral, away, but it was truly unbelievable. Our fan base is just incredible, and there’s so many fans.”
Typical energy bill forecast to rise by £332 a year in July
Cornwall Insight says the recent surge in energy prices due to the Iran war is set to push up household bills.
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UK finance firm Hargreaves Lansdown hit by IT failure
Another client of the firm, Gerardo Vece, from Buckinghamshire, told the BBC: “I have oil and gas investments which are leveraged and designed to be held for less than one day, so they are very volatile right now, and I can’t trade them online or over the phone or even access my account.”
Magic of the Cup: 14-year-old rewrites U.S. Open Cup history
Cups create magic. It doesn’t matter if it’s the FA Cup or the U.S. Open Cup, memories are made and history is written when knockout soccer is played.
And there was a new chapter in the 113-year-old history books of the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, when Braiden Kalonji became the youngest recorded goal scorer in the modern history of the competition.
The 14-year-old’s Kalonji Pro-Profile, a Georgia-based club that plays in the youth-development-focused United Premier Soccer League, was awarded a penalty early in its first-round Open Cup clash at Chattanooga FC, and while Toni Tiente had his spot kick saved, Kalonji volleyed a lofted effort into the far corner, beyond the outstretched arms of Chattanooga’s helpless Griffin Huff.
The keeper makes the save but 14-year-old Braiden Kalonji floats in the follow-up from distance 😳 pic.twitter.com/QMRfyxADy8
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) March 18, 2026
“It felt really good,” Kalonji said to the competition’s website. “I’ve been working for this and God delivered … all the work showed today and I’m really proud of it.”
The magic ran out not long after for Kalonji Pro-Profile. Chattanooga, part of MLS Next Pro in the third division of American professional soccer, equalized in the first minute of first-half stoppage time before scoring the eventual winner one minute into the second half.
This was Kalonji Pro-Profile’s first appearance in the U.S. Open Cup. Despite the defeat, it was an afternoon in Tennessee that no one associated with Kalonji will ever forget.
‘Multiple waves’ of unauthorized drones spotted over strategic US Air Force base
A drone sighting that temporarily raised alarms at one of the United States Air Force’s largest and most strategic airfields earlier this month was more extensive, and potentially more dangerous, than first reported, according to a confidential internal briefing document reviewed by ABC News.
Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana said it was under a shelter-in-place order March 9 after “a report of an unmanned aerial system operating over the installation.”
The sighting raised concerns because Barksdale houses long-range B-52 bombers and plays a critical role in command and control of the Air Force nuclear defense capabilities.
The shelter-in-place order was lifted later that day but the unauthorized drone flights continued for nearly a week.
“Barksdale Air Force Base detected multiple unauthorized drones operating in our airspace during the week of March 9th,” Capt. Hunter Rininger of the 2nd Bomb Wing said in a statement provided to ABC News. The additional drone incursions had not been previously reported.
According to the confidential briefing document dated March 15, the drones came in waves and entered and exited the base in a way that may suggest attempts to “avoid the operator(s) being located.” Lights on the drones suggested the operators “may be testing security responses” at the base.
“Between March 9-15, 2026, BAFB Security Forces observed multiple waves of 12-15 drones operating over sensitive areas of the installation, including the flight line, with aircraft displaying non-commercial signal characteristics, long-range control links and resistance to jamming,” the document said. “After reaching multiple points across the installation, the drones dispersed across sensitive locations on the base.”
The flights lasted around four hours each day and the drones used varied routes of ingress and deliberate maneuvering within restricted airspace.
FAIRFORD, ENGLAND – MARCH 11: A cargo plane comes into land with two US Air Force B-1 bombers in the foreground at RAF Fairford on March 11, 2026 in Fairford, England. Since UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer allowed the US to use British bases to launch defensive strikes against Iranian missile sites, a variety of US military aircraft including B52 bombers, and B-1 bombers, have arrived at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
“Certainly, it seemed to be more than just your average drone enthusiast who just pushed it too far,” said ABC News contributor Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense. “It looked like this was deliberate and intentional to see just how they would react.”
The briefing includes a determination that the drones were different than what the typical consumer could purchase off the shelf. They appeared to be custom built and required “advanced knowledge” of signal operations.
The analysts said “with high confidence” they expected unauthorized drones to continue to operate in and around Barksdale Air Force Base in the immediate future.
“The drone incursions at BAFB pose a significant threat to public safety and national security since they require the flight line to be shut down while also putting manned aircrafts already inflight in the area at risk,” the document said.
The FAA referred ABC News to the military for comment. The Louisiana State Police, which is also assisting the investigation, declined to comment.
“Flying a drone over a military installation is not only a safety issue, it is a criminal offense under federal law. We are working closely with federal and local law enforcement agencies to investigate these incursions. The security of our installation and the safety of our people are top priorities, and we will continue to vigilantly monitor our airspace,” Capt. Rininger’s statement said.
Lab-grown food pipe implanted in pigs offers new hope for young patients
UK scientists have grown fully functioning food pipes and successfully transplanted them into mini pigs, paving the way for human trials.
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