Stocks have been rangebound overnight, the Hang Seng +0.05% whilst the Nikkei is down -0.06%. Chinese property shares advanced after Shanghai lowered down-payment ratios and the minimum mortgage threshold, as bigger Chinese cities follow through on the central government’s aid for the property sector. Tech stocks in China gained as major Chinese state banks said they will put a combined 114 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) into a semiconductor investment fund.
However, it is the story on the front page of the FT that will be talked about here in Europe. Philip Lane, the ECB's Chief Economist said yesterday that the 'European Central Bank is ready to start cutting rates interest rates'. Not big news in the scheme of things, but it is the timing of the cuts that is controversial, sooner rather than later....
As for today, the data is light - US Consumer Confidence at 3pm the highlight, but the Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks at BOJ event in Tokyo, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot addresses Barclays-CEPR International Monetary Policy forum, and we also hear from the Fed's Daly and the Fed's Cook.
Marketwise the yield on 10-year. Treasuries was little changed at 4.46%, Japan’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 1.035%, West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $78.90 a barrel, Spot gold was little changed at $2340 per ounce, Bitcoin fell 2.7% to $67,726.88 and Ether fell 1.3% to $3,837.44.
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