Euro firmer again

It was quiet enough again yesterday, though the euro advanced further against the dollar to trade at over $1.18. Bond yields in the core markets were little changed, while US stocks closed marginally higher with European indices finishing a touch lower

Spanish bond yields are lower this morning after the Catalan President decided to hold off  declaring independence for the region for a ‘few weeks’, as he seeks talks with the national government in Madrid

The National Institute for economic research unofficially estimate that the UK economy grew by 0.4% q-o-q in Q3, a bit ahead of the Q2 outturn (0.3%) and also a bit ahead of what the Bank of England is expecting

The IMF has revised up slightly its forecasts for global growth to 3.6% this year and 3.7% in 2018, from 3.5% and 3.6% in its July Update. It also raised its projections for growth in the Euro area (2.1% and 1.9%) and the US (2.2% and 2.3%), though forecasts for the UK were unchanged (1.7% and 1.5%)

Ahead of the ECB meeting later this month, Bloomberg is reporting that policymakers are committed to  keeping interest rates unchanged for an extended period of time and until ‘well past’ the end of QE.

Not much in the way of economic data due today, while the Fed publishes the minutes of its recent meeting