US equities at new highs

Equity markets in the US set new all-time highs yesterday, with the main indices there gaining a further 1% on the day, but core bond yields were little changed as were the main exchange rates. The dollar continues to  hover just below the $1.1150 level against the euro and just under $1.31 against the pound, with the latter trading a little above 85p against the single currency

The minutes of the ECB’s December meeting noted that “incoming data since the last monetary policy meeting (in October) pointed to continued weak but stabilising euro area growth dynamics”, with the central bank projecting “an increase in real GDP growth from 1.1% in 2020….to 1.4% in both 2021 and 2022”.

China’s economy grew by 6.0% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2019 according to GDP data published overnight, with growth for the year as a whole averaging 6.1%, down from 6.6% in 2018 but within the government’s 2019 target range of 6.0% to 6.5%

Data due today include a final reading for Euro area inflation in December, retail sales in the UK, and industrial production and consumer confidence in the US