Please note that after today, the Morning Minutes are taking a summer break and will return on Monday August 22.
It’s a very quiet morning for business news. The big US inflation numbers are now out and nothing major is expected for today, leaving investors to digest the recent news and await next week’s retail sales data from the US, UK, China and Canada, inflation numbers for the UK and Canada, and housing market data for the US and Canada. On the earnings side, investors are awaiting next week’s results from big retailers like Walmart and Home Depot.
This morning finds US index futures up 0.3% to 0.5% with Dow and S&P futures bouncing up from yesterday’s flat closes, and NASDAQ futures clawing back some of yesterday’s 0.6% loss. European indices are in the green with the Dax up 0.5% and the FTSE up 0.3%.
US treasury yields are on the rise again with the 10-year yield climbing above 2.85% and the 30-year yield trading back up above 3.15%. This has helped the US Dollar to rebound 0.1%-0.3% against the Euro, Loonie and Gold, and 0.6% against the Pound. Cryptocurrencies have shifted into reverse with Bitcoin down 1.6%.
Commodities are also getting knocked back a bit ahead of the weekend with WTI crude oil down 2.0%, natural gas down 2.8% and copper down 1.4%.