Quiet start to week

It was a public holiday in the US yesterday and so it was quiet enough on markets, with the main exchange rates little changed as indeed they are again at the off this morning. The dollar continues to hover just above the $1.08 level against the euro and at around $1.30 against the pound, while the latter is trading at just over 83p to the single currency ahead of labour market data in the UK later this morning

A coronavirus-related revenue warning from Apple has contributed to a fall in Asian equity markets overnight, and will probably result in a weak start for European and US stocks today, as well as a decline in core bond yields with German and US 10-year yields about 5bps lower at almost -0.45% and 1.55% respectively

The (German) Bundesbank says the coronavirus is a “cyclical downside risk” for the German economy, noting that a “temporary decline in overall demand there (China) could damp German export activity” and that “some global value chains could be impaired by security measures put in place…delivery bottlenecks in selected industries here (Germany) could be a consequence”

The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, says “we must have the ability to set laws that suit us“, adding that Brussels’ insistence that the UK should abide by EU rules as part of any trade deal “simply fails to see the point of what we are doing”

Data due today include the labour market report for the fourth quarter of 2019 in the UK and the Empire manufacturing index and the Home Builders housing index in the US