Dollar recovers some ground

The euro and sterling have both slipped back against the dollar, with the single currency trading near $1.22 this morning from close to $1.23 this time yesterday and the pound trading at around $1.36 from over $1.37. This in turn leaves the euro-sterling exchange rate still hovering in and around the 89p level

European stocks lost ground at the start of the week but US equities closed marginally higher yesterday, while core bond yields continued their downward trend with German 10-year yields now back to -0.55% and equivalent US yields trading below 1.05%

ECB President Christine Largarde says the central bank will be in the market “for an extended period of time” in order to ensure that “financing conditions (for households and corporates) are preserved at a favourable level”

Employment in the UK fell by 88,000 (or 0.3%) in the three months to November (from the three months to August) and the unemployment rate nudged up to 5.0%, which compares to a pre-pandemic low of just under 4.0%

Data due today includes consumer confidence and house prices in the US