Dollar a touch softer

The euro and sterling have both gained a little ground against the dollar with the single currency trading back up above $1.16 and the pound rising to almost $1.37. This in turn leaves the euro-sterling exchange rate still hovering just below 85p

Equity markets closed in positive territory yesterday while bond yields have edged down, with US 10-year yields trading just below 1.55% and equivalent German yields dipping to -0.13%

The annual rate of consumer price inflation in the US ticked up in September to 5.4%, though the core -or underlying – rate held steady at 4.0%. Meanwhile, the minutes of last month’s Fed meeting indicate a tapering of the pace of its monthly bond purchases will begin before the end of the year

Industrial production in the Euro area fell quite sharply in August as supply bottlenecks weighed on output, which declined by 1.6% from July (albeit it was still up 5% on the same month in 2020)

It is quiet enough on the data front today with jobless claims and producer prices in the US the main releases