Mr. Chandler's illustrative graphic has a rainbow, a unicorn, quadcopter drones and two figures in military/paramilitary garb. He may be trying to tell us something.
From Marc to Market:
There does not appear to be materially new developments from the Middle East today. While some US officials seem optimistic that progress has been made, it is not clear that an agreement is at hand. Still, oil prices are more than a dollar lower and equities are mostly firmer. The dollar is mixed against the G10 currencies and mostly in narrow ranges. The New Zealand dollar, which jumped yesterday on the back of a hawkish hold by the central bank, is the strongest of the G10 currencies. It is up nearly 2% this week. Sterling and the Japanese yen are the only two G10 currencies that have fallen against the dollar this week.
Japanese real sector data, including retail sales and industrial output were stronger than expected, while the Tokyo CPI fell and the core rate is at a four-year low. Official Japanese data showed JPY11.7 trillion (~$73.5 bln) in intervention since late April, which is a little more than expected. Still, the dollar remains within striking distance of the JPY160 threshold. The BOJ is seen as most likely (~80%) to raise rates next month. Mostly firmer eurozone member May CPI favors an ECB hike next month (~90% chance discounted in the swaps market)....
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