From Marc to Market:
Overview: The dollar has caught a bid ahead of the US retail sales and industrial production figures. It is higher against all the G10 currencies but the Swiss franc. The SNB meets Thursday. It surprised many by cutting rates in March and the same logic (low inflation, move ahead of the ECB, stronger franc). A hawkish hold by the Reserve Bank of Australia has not done much for the Australian dollar, which is little changed on the day. The greenback held last week's high against the yen near JPY158.25, the highest it has been since the intervention in late April. Most emerging market currencies are firmer against the US dollar, but a few central European currencies dragged lower by the softer euro. Hungary is expected to cut rates shortly and it may be the last one for some time.
Benchmark 10-year yields are mixed in Europe and the premiums over German bunds has narrowed a little today. The 10-year US Treasury yield is up a little more than a basis point to approach 4.30%. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ rallied to new record highs yesterday, helped big tech names, and this helped boost Asia Pacific shares today. Hong Kong was an exception. It slipped fractionally. Europe's Stoxx 600 is up nearly 0.5%, while US index futures are narrowly mixed. Gold continues to trade within last Friday's range (~$2301-$2337). August WTI rose by a little more than 2% yesterday and stalled near $80. The upper end of where it has been since the end of April. It takes a break of the $77 area suggest a high is in place....
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