Headlines:
- The light optimism begins to fade in equities once again
- UK Q2 preliminary GDP +0.2% vs 0.0% q/q expected
- UK June monthly GDP +0.5% vs +0.2% m/m expected
- Spain July final CPI +2.3% vs +2.3% y/y prelim
- France July final CPI +4.3% vs +4.3% y/y prelim
- Chia July M2 money supply +10.7% vs +11.0% y/y expected
- IEA lowers forecast for oil demand growth for next year
Markets:
- GBP leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures flat
- US 10-year yields up 2.2 bps to 4.103%
- Gold up 0.3% to $1,918.65
- WTI crude up 0.6% to $83.33
- Bitcoin down 0.1% to $29,392
It was a quiet session as we observed yet another typical summer's day in Europe. Market appetite was sapped and there wasn't much follow-up action to the volatile moves after the US CPI data yesterday.
The dollar is marginally lower but nothing too outstanding once again. USD/JPY is seen retreating slightly after nearing 145.00 earlier, to around 144.50-60 levels now. Meanwhile, EUR/USD is little changed and keeping just under the 1.1000 mark.
The pound is a decent mover though, benefiting from stronger UK GDP data - which surprised to the upside. That is seeing GBP/USD up 0.4% to 1.2730 from around 1.2680 earlier on in the session.
Besides that, equities sentiment remains on edge after dip buyers were defeated yesterday. US futures were slightly higher earlier on but saw gains evaporate and in Europe, there is some catching up to do with the late selling in Wall Street overnight.
Looking ahead, don't discount the data releases in the US as they may have the potential to stir up some added volatility before the weekend. We'll have the US PPI and University of Michigan survey coming up.
