Morning Note: A round-up of market news.
Market News
Gold currently trades at $3,485 an ounce, having earlier breached a record $3,500 with bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this month. The 10-year Treasury yield held steady at 4.26%.
President Trump may declare a national housing emergency this autumn, Scott Bessent told the Washington Examiner. Separately, the Treasury secretary told Semafor that several candidates for Fed chair are also contenders for the two open board seats.
Brent Crude moved up to $68.50 a barrel. Saudi Arabia and Iraq halted oil shipments to the Nayara refinery in India after EU sanctions. A further one-year life extension has been announced for two UK nuclear power stations.
US equities were closed yesterday and are currently expected to open slightly lower this afternoon. In Asia this morning, equities were mixed as China margin trades surged to a record level: Nikkei 225 (+0.3%); Hang Seng (-0.3%); Shanghai Composite (-0.6%). Japan’s 10-year JGB yields slid after a strong auction.
The FTSE 100 is currently trading 0.4% lower at 9,156, while Sterling trades at $1.3525 and €1.1550. The yield on long-dated gilts rose to the highest level since 1998, placing further pressure on the government to take steps to regain the confident of markets
Italian Banking group Monte Paschi raised its bid for Mediobanca by adding about €750m cash.
Source: Bloomberg
