Main exchange rates steady

The main exchange rates are not much changed from where they were yesterday morning with the euro still hovering just above $1.21 against the dollar and just below 90.5p against sterling, while the pound is trading at around  $1.34 against the US currency

Equity markets chalked up modest gains yesterday  while core bond yields were flat to a little lower on the day at 0.92% and -0.60% in the case of US and German 10-year yields respectively

The President of the European Commission and the UK  Prime Minister meet in Brussels today to discuss the outstanding differences in the EU-UK negotiations on their future relationship, with British government sources saying “it is clear that some political impetus will be required for the talks to make any more progress”

The UK and the EU have agreed a series of measures on how to implement the Northern Ireland Protocol  – with the UK in turn dropping from its Internal Market Bill those parts that were in breach of the Withdrawal Agreement – which will stand regardless of whether a trade deal is stuck or not

It is quiet on the data front today with job openings in the US the only release of note