Dollar on front foot

The dollar remains on the front generally and, specifically, has nudged a little higher against both the euro and sterling to trade just below the $1.08 and $1.30 levels respectively this morning, which leaves the single currency still hovering in and around 83p against the pound. Equity markets closed lower (in the case of European indices) to flat (US) but look set or a positive start to trading today, while core bond yields ended unchanged to down slightly on the day

Employment in the UK rose at a healthy pace in the final quarter of 2019 – by 180k, or 0.6%, from third quarter – and the unemployment rate held at a multi-decade low of 3.8%, though the annual rate of growth in weekly earnings continued to ease in the final three months of the year

Bundesbank member,Buch, says “sentiment in the German economy has improved lately” but it would be “particularly affected if risks for the global economy materialised” (obviously, the coronavirus poses an immediate if still perhaps ultimately temporary risk)

Later today, the Fed publishes the minutes of its January monetary policy meeting at which it again left interest rates on hold and reiterated that they are at an appropriate level to sustain the economic expansion

Data due today includes CPI inflation in the UK and housing starts and producer prices in the US