Cooler-than-feared inflation is typically GOOD for bonds: traders infer the Fed has more room to eventually cut rates, so they buy Treasuries. Because bond prices and yields move inversely, that buying pushes yields DOWN. Remember the duration idea — the longer-dated the bond, the more its price moves for a given yield change, so the 10Y and 30Y react more than the 2Y.

A positive (steep) curve means investors demand extra yield to lend for longer — compensation for inflation and rate uncertainty over time. Beginners watch this because an INVERTED curve (short yields above long) has historically preceded recessions; a re-steepening like this is usually read as markets pricing a normal growth/rate path rather than imminent Fed cuts into a downturn.

A credit spread is the EXTRA yield over Treasuries that investors require to hold corporate risk; 79 bp is historically narrow, signalling calm and confidence that companies will repay. When a large borrower shows losses and comes to market, traders watch whether spreads WIDEN (prices fall) as compensation for perceived risk rises. Tight spreads mean cheap borrowing for companies; widening spreads mean the market is getting more cautious.

Japan matters for global bonds via the carry trade: for years investors borrowed cheaply in yen to buy higher-yielding bonds abroad, including US Treasuries. Hotter Japanese producer prices raise the odds the BoJ keeps lifting rates, which can pull that money home and push JGB yields up (prices down). Beginners watch this because a JGB sell-off can spill into higher yields globally.

Central-bank minutes tell traders how hawkish or dovish policymakers are; a hawkish tone (worried about inflation) typically pushes local bond yields UP as investors price fewer cuts. Elevated oil compounds this — for an oil importer like India, dearer crude means higher imported inflation, which usually lifts yields and pressures the currency, so bonds and the rupee often sell off together.

Gilts don't trade in isolation — UK yields often move with US Treasuries because global bond investors compare returns across markets. Cooler US inflation tends to pull global yields down (bond prices up), while higher oil raises imported-inflation fears that can push yields back up. Beginners should watch the direction of oil and US data as the near-term drivers when UK-specific news is quiet.

When governments plan to spend and borrow more, they issue more bonds. More supply, all else equal, pushes bond prices DOWN and yields UP — especially at the long end (30Y), where duration makes prices most sensitive. This is why beginners watch fiscal/defence news: it feeds the supply side of the bond market, separate from central-bank rate decisions.