Dollar firmer

The euro and the sterling have both lost further ground to the dollar. The single currency has weakened to just over $1.1750 and the pound has fallen to $1.29, while the latter has also slipped against the euro to trade at 91p this morning as renewed Brexit-related concerns begin to take a toll on the currency

US stocks remained under pressure  yesterday with notable declines recorded on the first day of trading after the long weekend, led by the NASDAQ which closed more than 4% lower while the DOW and S&P 500 were both down more than 2% on the day. Not surprisingly, core bond yields declined with benchmark US 10-year yields falling by around 6bps to just over 0.65%.

The UK government is facing criticism, even from within its own ranks, after the Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis admitted that a plan to override parts of the Withdrawal Agreement reached with the EU would be a breach of international law in a “limited and specific way”

The Euro Area economy contracted for a second consecutive quarter in Q2 with GDP falling by a further 11.8% following a decline of 3.7% in the first quarter, while employment was down almost 3% from the opening quarter of the year

It is very quiet on the data front today with job openings in the US the only release of any note