Dollar gains more ground

The dollar has gained some more ground against both the euro and sterling, strengthening by about a cent in each case to trade at $1.19 and just under $1.39 respectively, which in turn leaves the single currency-pound exchange rate broadly steady at around 85.75p

US 10-year bond yields have reversed almost all of the jump that occurred immediately post Wednesday’s Fed meeting, falling back by the best part of 10bps to 1.50%, while equivalent German yields have edged back down again too, by around 5bps to -0.20%

Retail sales in the UK slipped in May, falling by almost 1.5% from April, though the latter month had seen a very robust increase of more than 9%. On an annual basis, sales last month were up 24.6% from their depressed level in May 2020

The annual rare of CPI inflation in the Euro area in May was confirmed at 2% according to the final reading published yesterday, while the core (or underlying) rate, was revised up a touch to a still subdued 1.0%

It is very quiet on the data front today with no economic releases of note