Sterling a touch weaker

Sterling has lost a little ground to both the dollar and the euro, slipping back to just under $1.36 and to around 85p respectively, while the euro is trading a touch above $1.1550 against the US currency

European equity markets are off almost 1% at the open today, while bond yields are largely unchanged at -0.12% and 1.61% in the case of German and US 10-year yields respectively

Employment in the UK rose by 235,000 – or 0.7% – in the three months to August (from the three months to May), while the unemployment rate dipped to 4.5% in the same period (and is now not far off its pre-pandemic low of 3.8% at the end of 2019)

ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane says “an energy price shock can simultaneously raise headline inflation but exert downward pressure on the path of underlying inflation” (because it also dampens economic growth)

It is quiet enough on the data front today with the ZEW index of investor sentiment in the Euro area and job openings in the US the only releases of note,  while it is Budget 2022 day here at home also