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Waiting, slow markets, but BoE will spice things up
Sleepy markets with flat moves out there –
USD flat ahead of a wave of Fed speakers and Williams is noteworthy as a potential neutral/dove who could become a hawk
commodities, flat
yields, you guessed it, flat.
European, asian and US futures all….flat, but VIX still lower, so could see some buyers step in at the European cash open
China’s banking regulator says it expects PPI to hit 10%
An official from China’s banking and insurance regulator says expects PPI to hit 10% m/m I’m guessing if it feeds through to CPI. Awaiting more detail.
US negotiators are prepared to return to indirect talks with Iran on nuclear deal
There are various reports that the US is preparing to return to talks with Iran.
The correct nuance though is that US negotiators are prepared to return once the leadership in Tehran is ready. Comments to that effect come from a Biden administration official.
- negotiating team could return to talks in Vienna as early as next week
- though that date might be pushed back, according to the official, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations
US Senator Romney confirms ‘framework’ agreement on infrastructure reached
Romney emerged from the meeting with Democrats and White House representatives:
- “Republicans and Democrats have come together along with the White House — We’ve agreed on the framework and we’re going to be heading to the White House tomorrow.”
The White House has issued a similar statement:
- progress made on an outline of a potential agreement
- Biden has invited the group to the White House Thursday
—
On this:
- progress made on an outline of a potential agreement
It probably couldn’t get much vaguer. Still, sounds like at least some progress.
Crypto is ‘rat poison’ (but there’s a but …)
Reuters report on a survey conducted at JPMorgan’s Macro, Quantitative and Derivatives conference
- attendees from around 1,500 institutions
- 10% of institutional investment firms in the survey trade cryptocurrencies
- nearly 50% said crypto is either “rat poison” or forecast that it is just a transitory fad
On the other hand, 40% said they were personally trading crypto!
They secretly love it!
Link to the Reuters piece is here
BTC update:
NASDAQ closes at a new record but off the highs levels
S&P and Dow industrial average close lower
The NASDAQ index closed at a another record high for the second consecutive day. The new intraday high reached 14317.66. The price is closing while off that high price at 14271.73.
- NASDAQ post record close
- NASDAQ closes at record for the second consecutive day
- S&P index stalled just ahead of its all-time high at 4257.11. The high reach for 4256.60
- Dow lagged
A look at the final numbers shows
- S&P index fell -4.57 points or -0.11% at 4241.86
- NASDAQ index rose 18.46 points or 0.13% at 14271.73
- Dow industrial average fell 71.4 points or -0.21% at 33874.18
- Russell 2000 rose 7.52 points or 0.33% at 2303.47
Thought For A Day
Major European indices end the session mostly lower
UK’s FTSE 100 flat
The major indices are ending the session mostly lower. The provisional closes are showing:
- German DAX -0.9%
- France’s CAC, -0.8%
- UK’s FTSE 100, unchanged
- Spain’s Ibex, -0.8%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB, -0.7%
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are mostly lower with the exception being the UK 10 year up 0.4 basis points. The yields are off their lowest levels of the day however.
Looking at other markets as London/European traders look to exit:
- Spot gold is up $8.50 or 0.48% $1787.30.
- Spot silver is up $0.38 or 1.49% at $26.16
- WTI crude oil futures are up $0.73 or 1.0% at $73.58. The high price extended to a new cycle high of $74.25 before rotating back to the downside. Crude oil inventory data showed a bigger than expected drawdown of 7.6 million barrels versus -3.5 million barrels estimate. Last week there was a drawdown of 7.3 million barrels as the economy reopens and people hit the road.
- The price of bitcoin is up $744 or 2.26% at $33,651. That is off the intraday high of $34,881.
In the US stock market, the markets are mixed:
- The NASDAQ index made a new all-time high today of 14317.66. The currently trades at 14281.13, up 28 points or 0.20%
- S&P index reached a high of 4256.60. That was just below the all-time high of 4257.11. It currently trades at 4248.69, up 2.28 points or 0.05%
- Dow industrial average is down around 20 points or -0.06% at 33925.30.
USDJPY fails on the break above 2021 high
March 31 high comes in at 110.96
The USDJPY moved to a new high for 2021 earlier today after breaking above the March 31 high of 110.96. The high price today reached 111.099.
Looking at the hourly chart below, the move above the March 31 high at 110.96 lasted for about an hour or so before failing and moving back to the downside. The corrective high price since the break lower reached 110.909 – about 5 pips below that old high. The current price is trading around 110.734. That takes the price below the June 17 high of 110.818.