- There was a chance the BOE decision today could’ve turned out really weird
- US Bessent: Trade deals are largely done
- BOE cuts bank rate by 25 bps to 4.00% as expected in August policy decision
- Bitcoin rallies as Trump is set to allow cryptocurrencies in retirement plans
- Japan prime minister Ishiba insists that there is no discrepancy on 15% tariffs rate
- Equities continue to ramp higher as US data, tariff concerns are brushed aside
- What to expect from the BOE policy decision coming up later?
- Is the Fed about to make another policy mistake?
- Japan slashes growth forecast amid drag from US tariffs, feeble consumption activity
- Russia says that preparations for a Trump-Putin summit are already underway
- China continues to snap up gold, reserves up for a ninth month in a row
- Prices are going up in the terminal business, capacity is close to full – Maersk CEO
- Dollar falls further on the week as the post-NFP fallout continues
- France June trade balance -€7.6 billion vs -€7.8 billion prior
- Eurostixx futures +0.5% in early European trading
- UK July Halifax house prices +0.4% vs +0.3% m/m expected
- Germany June trade balance €14.9 billion vs €17.3 billion expected
- Germany June industrial production -1.9% vs -0.5% m/m expected
- FX option expiries for 7 August 10am New York cut
- Swiss Federal Council to hold extraordinary meeting as trade delegation returns from US
- Trump says billions of dollars are flowing into the US as reciprocal tariffs take effect
It’s been a pretty slow session in terms of data and news releases. We’ve got the usuall tariff news with the Japanese Prime Minister requesting that the US make amendments to its executive orders on tariffs for Japan. That as both sides are said to agree that the 15% tariffs rate is a ceiling, and not to be stacked on top of already existing levies. Tariff news are now mostly noise as the focus is on Fed cuts.
We also had the confirmation that preparations for a Trump-Putin summit are already underway and that the two Presidents could meet in the coming days (likely next week). This will be the first time since June 2021 that we see a US president meet up with Russian president Putin.
Bitcoin rallied on the news that Trump will sign an executive order today to allow private equity, real estate, cryptocurrencies and other alternative assets in 401(K)s. The Bloomberg report said that the order would direct the Department of Labor to ease fiduciary restrictions that currently deter plan administrators from offering such products.
Finally, we got the BoE delivering a hawkish 25 bps cut today. It was the first time ever that the BOE had two rounds of voting to reach a majority decision on bank rate. The majority to cut was reached by just one vote. The statement also said that the restrictiveness of monetary policy has fallen as Bank Rate has been reduced. Inflation forecasts were also revised higher. The market is now seeing basically a 50% chance of another cut by year-end.
In the markets, the US dollar has been weak throughout the session but eventually erased some of the losses. Stock markets have been rallying steadily since yesterday and extended the gains today. Bond markets continue to range as we await the US jobless claims and the US CPI data.
This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.