UK services PMI rebounds in March

The UK services PMI rebounded in March, having falling in both January and February,  though Markit, who compile the index, said this ‘fails to change the picture of an economy that slowed in the first quarter’, adding that the slowing is evident in ‘consumer-oriented sectors linked to spending and incomes being squeezed by higher prices’

The euro is a touch softer against both the dollar (at $1.06) and sterling (85p) this morning, after the ECB’s Draghi says meeting its inflation goal remains conditional on a very ‘substantial’ degree of monetary  stimulus, hence a ‘reassessment of the current monetary policy stance is not warranted at this stage’

The minutes of the Fed’s March meeting published last night noted that last month’s 25bps interest rate did not reflect a change in members’ assessment of the ‘appropriate path’ for rates, rather it was consistent with its plan to ‘gradually’ increase rates. This prompted a modest fall in bond yields, which closed around 3-4bps lower on the day

The Fed minutes  also noted that ‘equity prices as quite high’ and seemed to reflect ‘expectations for corporate tax cuts or to increased risk tolerance among investors rather than…expectations of stronger economic growth’. US stocks lost ground on the back of this to end marginally down overall

Data due today include jobless claims in the US