Annuity rates hit by US and euro crises

The US senate approved a new debt ceiling on Tuesday night after tense negotiations on the spending cuts the government will have to impose as a result. However, the debt deal did little to calm the markets on Wednesday as the FTSE fell 90 points to 5,629 this morning and the Dow Jones fell 35 points to 11,831. Fears following the Franco-German restructure of Greek debt in late July have taken their toll on gilt yields. The yields on ten year gilts hit 2.75% from 2.99% last week, whilst 15 year gilt yields fell to 3.39% from 3.56% last week. Fear of losses from global equities h...