Euro on front foot

The euro is on the front foot this morning and is trading close to $1.08 against the dollar. The results of  a poll conducted following last night’s  first French presidential television debate, which show Macron considered to have performed best in the three categories polled – most convincing, best agenda, fittest for office – is providing a fillip to the single currency, with French bond yields also edging lower

Sterling has lost some ground against the euro after UK PM May yesterday announced that she will trigger Article 50 on March 29, falling by around half a cent to circa 87.25p (though it is holding its own against a generally softer dollar)

The dollar has been under pressure since the Fed’s ‘dovish’ interest rate hike last week, and US bond yields have fallen. The latter dipped again yesterday, with 10-year yields closing around 4bps lower at just above 2.45% (and down almost 20bps from last week’s pre Fed levels)

ECB member Weidmann says the ECB’s communication could be adjusted by ‘no longer only saying that monetary policy could be eased still further’

Data due today include the February CPI in the UK, with the consensus expecting the annual rate of inflation to have picked up further – to 2.1% – last month