Euro dips below parity for a time

The euro dipped below parity against the dollar for a time yesterday amid political upheaval in Italy, while sterling is a little lower against the US currency at almost $1.18. This in turn sees the euro-pound exchange rate trading at around 84.75p

Equity markets were under pressure again yesterday, with European stocks shedding the best part of 2%, while government bond yields are lower this morning with German 10-year yields down around 10bps to just below 1.10% and equivalent US yields down 5bps to almost 2.90%

Italy’s Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, offered his resignation to the country’s president after his government lost the support of one if its coalition partners. This was refused though and Draghi must now see can he find support from elsewhere in parliament

Fed member Waller says, given the inflation picture in the US, he supports another 75bps hike in interest rates at the central bank’s monetary policy meeting later this month

The annual rate of CPI inflation in Ireland picked up to 9.1% in June from 7.8% in May according to CSO data published yesterday.Thus was largely due to higher energy prices, though the inflation rate excluding energy also picked up last month, to 5.2% (from 4.7%)

Data due today includes retail sales, industrial production and consumer confidence in the US