Sentiment Settles As Treasury Yields Begin To Tick Back Higher

 | Aug 19, 2019 09:25

Market Overview

The new trading week begins with a stabilisation of sentiment. With Treasury yields showing signs of calm (dare we say, a low), there is a more settle outlook across major markets on Monday morning. The US yield curve steepened into the close on Friday (by “steepened”, we mean the 2s/10s spread has picked up to a heady +7bps). Equities volatility has also dropped sharply as support has begun to form. How sustainable this all is remains to be seen, but volatility remains elevated (VIX above 18) and this could still just be the calm before the next storm. The main reaction has been for a shift out of safety and into higher risk again. That means, gold slipping of its lofty positon, whilst the yen and Swiss franc unwind some of their outperformance. On the flip-side, we see equities picking up nicely this morning, as oil has also opened higher. In the currency space, sterling and the Aussie are also continuing to gain ground. Recent history would caution us with getting too carried away with such a swing in sentiment though. The next blow up in the trade dispute and/or Trump protectionist move could be just around the corner. Newsflow remains key.

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On Wall Street, a strong rally into the close on Friday (S&P 500 +1.4% at 2888) with US futures continuing this move today (+0.6%) are helping Asian markets higher today. The Nikkei closed +0.7% higher with Shanghai Composite +1.7%. In Europe, there is a positive start to trading, with FTSE futures +0.6% and DAX futures +0.7%.

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In forex, the recent bounce on GBP shows signs of continuing early today, with a mild risk positive skew to the majors.

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In commodities, this more positive sentiment is a drag on gold which is -$5 and oil opening higher by over +1%.

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The Eurozone is in focus on the economic calendar today. The Eurozone Current Account is at 1000BST and is expected to show the surplus increasing to +€32.2bn in June (from +€29.72bn in May). The final reading of Eurozone inflation for July is at 10:00 BST and is expected to show no changes to the headline HICP at +1.1% (+1.1% flash, +1.3% final June), with core HICP expected to remain at +0.9% (+0.9% flash, +1.1% final June).

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Chart of the Day – Silver