Bond yields nudge higher
There is not much change in the main exchange rates this morning. The euro and sterling are both a touch firmer against the dollar trading a little above parity and just north of $1.14 respectively, leaving the single currency still hovering below 88p against the pound
Government bond yields continue to nudge higher. US 10-year yields have risen to 3.50% ahead of the start of the Fed’s two-day meeting later today and equivalent German and UK yields are up to 1.85% and 3.20% respectively
Oil prices have edged down further recently with Brent crude trading at $92 per barrel, below the levels prevailing immediately prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. Wholesale gas prices have also fallen of late and are now well off their most recent peak at the end of August
ECB member (and head of Spain’s central bank) de Cos says “it may not be desirable to force an excessively rapid convergence of inflation to 2%, due to the excessive impact on economic activity and employment that this would entail”, while still acknowledging that interest rates have further to rise
It is relatively quiet on the data front today with housing starts in the US the main release of note