Investors were torn between relief and uncertainty after the resignation announced Thursday of British Prime Minister Liz Truss, whose short-lived mandate will have generated a budgetary crisis and a storm on the markets.
Thursday around 1:15 p.m. GMT, the British sovereign debt market relaxed: the 30-year rate fell to 3.94% and the 10-year rate to 3.86%.
The pound, after accelerating its progress in the wake of the announcement of the departure of Liz Truss, fell a little but took 0.45% to 1.1268 dollars around 1:15 p.m. GMT.
At the end of September, it had fallen to its historic low after a catastrophic budget presentation by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, of a colossal scale but not quantified and financed by debt only.
Read alsoThe shortest “reign”: Liz Truss resigns as Prime Minister
These measures have raised fears that the British public accounts will go off the road and triggered panic on the foreign exchange and debt markets.
The cost of long-term government borrowing had soared to more than 5% for 30-year debt, the highest in 20 years, and the Bank of England had to intervene.
"
Although the resignation of Liz Truss (...) leaves the UK without a leader as it faces enormous economic, fiscal and financial challenges, markets appear relieved
," said Paul Dales of Capiral Economics. .
"
Investors are applauding the departure of Truss and the prospect of a more economically savvy, market-friendly leader
," said Victoria Scholar of Interactive Investor.
However, analysts point out that the British economy remains fragile, with the level of inflation notably at its highest for 40 years, at more than 10%, and sluggish activity.