Global stocks rose, and US equity futures extended their longest winning streak since November, rising for a 4th day as the US and China concluded three days of trade talks on what Bloomberg reported was an "optimistic note".

World stocks extended gains to hit a near-four week high, WTI crude oil rose above $50 and most industrial metals advanced on Wednesday on optimism that the United States and China may be inching toward a trade deal, soothing fears an all-out trade war could hit a slowing global economy, while China stepped up measures to spur consumption. Reuters reported that a senior Chinese official said Beijing plans to introduce policies to boost domestic spending on items such as autos and home appliances this year.

“The positive news around the trade talks is giving a boost to risk assets – it’s what the global economy needs to see,” said Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital Markets in London. “There are also reports of new initiatives by China to boost spending and that’s desirable from the perspective of Chinese and global growth.”

As reported earlier, delegations from China and the U.S. ended talks that had lasted longer than expected in Beijing on Wednesday amid signs of progress on issues including purchases of U.S. farm and energy commodities and increased access to China’s markets. Officials said details will be released soon with Global Times editor Hu Xijin tweeting that "the trade talks, though arduous, were conducted in a pleasant and candid atmosphere. Neither side has made the briefing, because the US delegation is on the plane now. The two sides will release message at the same time on Thursday morning Beijing time."

Trade developments between the U.S. and China have remained a focal point for traders after a report that Trump was eager to strike a deal to help revive the flagging stock rally he was happy to take credit for. While concerns linger about the impact of protectionist tensions on global growth, a favorable outcome would set up a potential Goldilocks scenario for markets after Fed Chair Powell’s apparent dovish shift last week eased fears about tightening financial conditions.

As a result of growing trade optimism, MSCI's all-country index rose another 0.4% in a fourth straight day of gains. Asian bourses saw a strong finish with Japan's Nikkei and China's blue-chip CSI 300 closing up 1% while the tech-heavy South Korean KOSPI jumped nearly 2%.

European bourses then picked up the Asian baton, with the pan-European STOXX 600 rising more than 1% with German and French benchmarks leading the way.

U.S. equity futures also rose, set for another strong day on Wall Street after the S&P 500 gained nearly 1 percent on Tuesday; US futures are now higher for 4 consecutive days - the longest stretch since November.

Not everyone was optimistic, however: Kate Moore, chief equity strategist at BlackRock told Bloomberg that "we could get some more stabilization and a floor in the market if we make strides towards an agreement” on trade, but "this is going to be an issue overhanging markets I believe for multiple years.”

Meanwhile, stocks got another boost overnight after Trump demanded in his televised address that Congress provide billions for a border wall with Mexico, but stopped short of declaring a national emergency or making any other dramatic announcements. In Trump's first-ever prime-time address, he said there is an increasing security crisis at the US southern border and that Americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration, while he also said they requested USD 5.7bln for a border wall which will be a steel barrier. Following the speech, US House Speaker Pelosi responded that President Trump is rejecting bipartisan deal to reopen government and has chosen fear over shutdown impasse, while Senate minority leader Schumer called for the government to reopen while debate over border continues. At the same time, the government shutdown continues, now in its 19th day, thanks to the impasse over funding.

Curiously, and in another sign of subsiding worries about the U.S. economic outlook, Fed funds rate futures show traders are now pricing in a small chance of a rate hike in 2019, a change from late last week when futures markets had priced in a cut by the end of the year. “Slowly but surely, the numerous headwinds that contributed to the market sell-off in the final quarter of 2018 are becoming less gale force and more strong breeze,” Craig Erlam at OANDA wrote in a note. “There is a clear risk that conditions could deteriorate quickly but at the moment, the storm is passing and investors are seeing opportunities in the wreckage.”

In currency markets, the dollar consolidated recent losses before a series of Fed speakers and the minutes of FOMC’s latest decision, while Treasuries were little changed. Commodity currencies and stocks traded in the green on renewed trade hopes, with emerging-market currencies edging north.  The dollar index eased 0.2% to 95.69 against a basket of currencies, hovering close to a 2-1/2 month low hit on Monday. The euro traded at $1.1464 while the dollar stood at 108.90 yen. Theresa May’s Brexit deal returns to Parliament while one-week volatility in the pound rallied on the Jan. 15 vote risk.

In Asia, the yuan led gains, rising in offshore trading by 0.4% to its strongest level in five weeks. Asian currencies as rising on optimism the U.S. and China will be able to defuse their trade war outweighed a worsening global growth outlook. “With little by way of domestic economic data to provide any guidance for Asian currencies, the focus remains on the ongoing U.S.-China trade talks,” says Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ in Singapore. Expectations some sort of deal could be reached have buoyed regional assets, but foreign investor equity flows into the region remain muted, suggesting there’s still some caution, he said. EM Asian currency prospects have improved owing to factors including the better-than-expected China services PMI and U.S. jobs data, says Christopher Wong, a senior FX strategist at Maybank in Singapore. Still, risks remain as growth momentum is easing and there’s concern over the corporate earnings outlook, Wong said.

Elsewhere, oil prices extended their gains, rising nearly 1% with U.S. WTI crude oil futures rose above $50 per barrel overnight for the first time in 2019, after 9 consecutive days of gains.

U.S. bond yields also climbed, with the benchmark 10-year Treasuries yield rising as high as 2.7404%, compared with its one-year low of 2.543% hit just before Friday’s strong payrolls data.

Looking ahead to today, the FOMC minutes this evening will likely be the highlight and with the Brexit debate resuming in parliament any headlines there will also be closely watched. The minutes will provide more color on the Committee’s thinking around several key issues for market participants—namely, their views about headwinds from slowing global growth, progress on the Fed's balance sheet strategy, and the debate around the neutral policy rate. After Powell’s early-year semi U-turn, the minutes could be slightly dated though. Other expected data include mortgage applications, while the Fed is scheduled to release FOMC meeting minutes, ahead of Powell's speech at to the Economic Club of Washington D.C. on Thursday. Constellation Brands and Lennar are among companies reporting earnings

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures up 0.2% to 2,577.75
• STOXX Europe 600 up 1% to 349.14
• MXAP up 1.4% to 150.53
• MXAPJ up 1.6% to 486.48
• Nikkei up 1.1% to 20,427.06
• Topix up 1.1% to 1,535.11
• Hang Seng Index up 2.3% to 26,462.32
• Shanghai Composite up 0.7% to 2,544.34
• Sensex up 0.5% to 36,158.62
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 1% to 5,778.29
• Kospi up 2% to 2,064.71
• German 10Y yield rose 7.7 bps to 0.303%
• Euro up 0.2% to $1.1469
• Italian 10Y yield rose 5.4 bps to 2.592%
• Spanish 10Y yield rose 0.4 bps to 1.517%
• Brent futures up 1.7% to $59.73/bbl
• Gold spot down 0.3% to $1,281.08
• U.S. Dollar Index down 0.1% to 95.85

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

• President Donald Trump is increasingly eager to strike a deal with China soon in an effort to perk up financial markets that have slumped on concerns over the trade war, according to people familiar with internal White House deliberations
• The two countries wrapped up three days of trade talks, with people familiar saying their positions were closer on areas including energy and agriculture but further apart on harder issues. The one-day extension of the talks shows both sides are serious about negotiations, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang says
• A rare flurry of schedule changes by regional legislatures across China suggests that President Xi Jinping may be clearing the calendar for a long-awaited Communist Party gathering later this month
• China’s Finance Ministry is set to propose a small increase in the targeted budget deficit for this year as officials seek to balance support for the economy with the need to keep control of debt levels
• The yen’s spectacular start to 2019 has been a case of too much, too soon for two influential investment firms that between them manage about $1 trillion in assets. AllianceBernstein Ltd. sold the currency as it surged 4 percent last week amid the dollar’s flash crash. Manulife Asset Management cut its holdings of the yen against the Australian dollar that day

Asian equity markets were higher across the board as sentiment remained underpinned by trade hopes after US-China discussions were extended into a 3rd day and with progress said to have been made on issues including purchases of US goods, while US President Trump also provided encouragement as he stated that talks were going well. As such, ASX 200 (+1.0%) and Nikkei 225 (+1.1%) were positive as they benefitted from the trade-related optimism which had inspired a 3rd consecutive gain amongst the US majors, with notable strength also seen in Australia’s energy names after WTI reclaimed the USD 50/bbl level to the upside. Hang Seng (+2.3%) and Shanghai Comp. (+0.7%) were also in the green as focus centred on trade while reports suggested that US President Trump wants a China trade deal soon to boost markets. Finally, 10yr JGBs tracked the downside in T-notes as the broad gains in stocks sapped safe-haven demand, while the BoJ’s Rinban announcement was also somewhat trivial with the central bank only in the market for around JPY 450bln concentrated in the belly.

Top Asian News

• Philippine Bulls on a Roll as Overseas Stocks Funds Trickle Back
• China Is Said to Propose Wider 2019 Fiscal Deficit Amid Slowdown
• BlackRock Sees Rally in Asia Credit After Losses Last Year
• Rare China Schedule Changes Suggest Major Policy Meeting Is Near

Major European indices are in the green [Euro Stoxx 50 +0.8%] as market sentiment remains fixated around the recently concluded US-China trade talks, with China’s foreign ministry indicating that they are taking the talks very seriously. Germany’s DAX (+0.9%) is outperforming its peers, with auto names such as Volkswagen (+2.9%) and BMW (+1.5%) in the green on the aforementioned trade talk sentiment; Daimler (+3.7%) lead the German auto’s with Mercedes-Benz selling 2.31mln cars in 2018 likely to make them that year’s best-selling premium auto. Sectors are broadly in the green, with consumer discretionary the outperforming sector with luxury names such as Kering (+3.8%) and Burberry (+2.8%) up as US-China talks conclude. Other notable movers include Ted Baker (+11.3%) after announcing a 12% increase in retail sales for the 5 weeks to January 5th. Elsewhere, Taylor Wimpey (+6.9%) after Co report good trading performance, with 2018 total home completions +3%. At the bottom of the Stoxx 600 are ADP (-4.7%) after reports that the French government are considering delaying privatization until 2020.

Top European News

• Deutsche Bank Drops as UBS Sees a Challenging Fourth Quarter
• Autos Lead Gains in Europe on Trade Optimism, China Stimulus
• Future Daimler CEO Sees Record Year Despite Global Auto Slowdown
• Sainsbury’s Holiday Sales Fall as Cautious Consumers Hold Back

In FX, the dollar eases further below 96.000 following a rangebound Asia-Pac session amid trade optimism with the third day of trade talks giving off somewhat of an upbeat vibe. China’s Foreign Ministry stated that the longer talks signified the country’s seriousness, while the China Global Times Editor also took note of the positive sentiment surrounding the dialogue. As such the DXY remains closer to the bottom of a 95.925-660 range ahead of the FOMC Minutes later today (full preview available on the Research Suite).

• GBP, EUR – The Pound extended on gains before paring a bulk of the move with fears of a no-deal Brexit receding as the UK Government seems to be losing more power in Parliament. To recap recent events, the Government was defeated in a vote regarding the Finance Bill which limits the scope for tax changes in the event of a no-deal. Additionally, if Labour and Tory rebels vote down the business motion (due at around 1300GMT), then Parliament will take control of the timing of the meaningful vote debate from the Government, i.e. PM May will not have room to further delay it. Furthermore, Business Insider also reported that UK businesses will make urgent public interventions about the perils of a no-deal Brexit should MPs vote down the deal on the 15th. Subsequently, Cable retreated to near the bottom of a 1.2712-77 range with resistance seen at 1.2790 (yesterday’s high) and support at 1.2712 (7th Jan low). Meanwhile, the EUR is marginally firmer, mostly on the back of a softer USD as an EZ upbeat unemployment rate and wider-than-expected German trade surplus did little to budge the single currency as exports fell more-than-expected.
• SEK,NOK – The Scandi Crowns are mixed with the SEK marginally softer following the release of the Riksbank Minutes from the December meeting which initially saw a firmer Crown as several Board Members noted that even though the inflation forecast for the next few years has also been revised downwards slightly, the conditions are still good for inflation to remain close to the 2% inflation target. Nordea notes that the release was marginally dovish given the risks surrounding the repo path downgrade. As Such EUR/SEK pared back the initial move lower to test 10.2400 to the upside (vs. low of 10.1967) ahead of its 200 HMA at 10.2428.
• AUD, NZD, CAD – The non-US dollars are on the front foot amid commodity price action with the Kiwi leading the gains. AUD was briefly hampered by the release of disappointing Australian building approvals overnight while AMP Capital’s Chief Economist said he sees the RBA cutting rates to 1.00% this year (currently 1.50%) due to a fall in building approvals and negative wealth effects from declining house prices dragging on economic growth. In terms of technical, AUD/USD sees clean air to the downside until the psychological level at 0.7000, while NZD/USD is capped at its 50 DMA 0.6782 and trading just above its 20 DMA 0.6744. Meanwhile USD/CAD sits near the bottom of a 1.3223-79 range with the rise in oil supporting the Loonie ahead of the BoC interest rate decision (full preview available on the Research Suite), looking at technicals, the pair’s 50 HMA (to the upside) sits at 1.3284 with clean air seen to the downside until 1.3200 the figure.
• JPY – The marked G10 underperformer as the safe-haven currency unwinds risks premium given the positivity around US-Sino trade talks with USD/JPY residing just below 109.00, having already tested the psychological level. On a technical front, past the 109.00 psychological level, 109.16 is a reported Fib level ahead of resistance at 109.73 (2nd Jan high).

In commodities, Brent (+1.7%) and WTI (+1.9%) prices are higher, with WTI breaching the USD 50/bbl level to the upside, and approaching USD 51/bbl, on hopes that a resolution can be achieved between the US and China. Alongside Brent testing, and briefly crossing, USD 60.00/bbl. Prices garnered further support from yesterday’s API crude inventories, which showed a larger than expected draw of -6.127mln vs. Exp. -2.7mln. Markets will be looking ahead to EIA data later on in the session, where expectations for weekly crude stocks are for a -3.3mln draw. UAE Energy Minister Mazrouei stated that the volatility in oil prices last year was counterproductive, and OPEC have stopped chasing an illogical or impractical price. Elsewhere, Berenberg have cut their 2019 Brent price forecast from USD 82.5/bbl to USD 65/bbl; and Morgan Stanley have updated their Brent forecast to USD 61.00/bbl vs. Prev. USD 69.00/bbl. Gold (-0.3%) prices have remained subdued by the positive risk sentiment from the US-China trade progress. Elsewhere, US plans to remove sanctions on Rusal, the Russian aluminum Co, are suggested to be of limited benefit to US consumers as aluminum import tariffs mean produces would require significantly greater prices in order to incentivize shipments.

US Event Calendar

• 7am: MBA Mortgage Applications, prior -8.5%
• 2pm: FOMC Meeting Minutes
• 8:20am: Fed’s Bostic Speaks in Chattanooga on Economic Outlook
• 9am: Fed’s Evans Speaks on Economy and Monetary Policy
• 11:30am: Fed’s Rosengren Speaks on the Economic Outlook
• 2pm: FOMC Meeting Minutes

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

May I be the 150th person to wish you a Happy New Year. It’s my first day back at work today and I’m writing this en route to Switzerland. Over the last two weeks in the Alps I’ve had numerous hot chocolates, bottles of red, tartiflettes, pizzas, burgers, portions of chips, hot marshmallows, ice creams and fondues. To balance this I’ve skinned up the mountain 12 times, done 20-odd snowy and hilly dog walks and looked after three excitable children. On balance there has still been more input than output though and am therefore relieved to be back at work so my body can have a rest from all angles. We nervously put 3 year old Maisie into ski school and thankfully she seemed to enjoy it. If you want to see what a three year old skiing with irresponsible parents looks like (post ski school) click on my Bloomberg header this morning to see.

If the end of 2018 was all uphill for risk, 2019 has so far seen the market wax up its skis, sharpen its edges and point them downhill. A reminder that our forecasts for 2018 and 2019 were both bearish based on the withdrawal of central bank liquidity and the lagged impact on global volatility and risk of the Fed tightening cycle. However, we turned tactically bullish for Q1 2019 in the latter half of November which in timing terms proved to be too early (or wrong depending on where we end up!). We would stand by this prediction and think the early months of this year will be the best as the risks of a near-term recession and worse case trade scenarios are eventually seen to be overdone. However, after that, we will still live in a world of less central bank liquidity after years of excess and a period where the lagged impact of the prior Fed hikes will resonate. We still think the US yield curve (2s10s) will be the best indicator of the probability of a recession in 2020 (see our Yield Curve 101 note here from late last year for more). For us, it needs to invert to suggest one is coming over the following 12-18 months. In turn, whether it inverts depends on the interplay between the Fed and the market. The worst case scenario is a Fed that ploughs through and continues to hike when the market disagrees with them (rightly or wrongly, and 10-year yields fall) or the data doesn’t justify it. A Fed at odds with the market is still very possible, especially after last Friday’s strong payroll and earnings data. However Powell’s speech last week indicated a more dovish approach than his pre-Xmas musings which is largely why 2019 has started well. So overall, all to play for, but the Fed and market interplay is likely to be the key battleground this year. Today’s Fed minutes (possibly a bit dated since Powell has already spoken since the meeting), multiple Fedspeak today (Evans, Bostic, and Rosengren) and tomorrow (Powell, Clarida, Bullard, Evans, Barkin, and Kashkari) and Friday’s US CPI will be the next major landmarks on this.

So momentum continues to favor those who point the skis straight down the mountain even if US markets did experience some intraday volatility, opening up +1% before fading back into the red around lunchtime, and ultimately rallying back to end the session near the highs. The S&P 500, DOW and NASDAQ each notched up a third day of consecutive gains. That means that if we exclude the impact of the Boxing Day surge then this three-day run (+5.17%) for the S&P is the strongest since August 2015 and sits in the top 3 since the start of 2010. The 4 out of 5 ‘up’ days to start the year is something that’s happened 11 times out of 92 including this year. We’ve had a perfect start (5 out of 5) 6 times.

On a sector basis, the gains were somewhat mixed. There was no clear outperformance by either cyclicals or defensives, as buying was broad-based. 81% of S&P 500 companies advanced, the third consecutive session with over 77% of stocks in the index gaining. That’s the best such streak since July. One soft spot was semiconductors, which fell -0.48% as Samsung announced soft demand for its chips business and missed consensus fourth-quarter earnings expectations.

Credit continues to make headway with US HY spreads another 16bps tighter yesterday (and 76bps tighter over the last 3 sessions). Euro HY also started to catch up with spreads 9bps tighter while the STOXX 600 notched up a +0.87% gain. Autos were up +1.41% and +1.23% in Europe and the US, respectively, seemingly on the news that China was looking to boost auto purchases this year. Oil also played a part in yesterday’s risk on moves with WTI Oil up +2.47%, placing it up +9.49% YTD already. EM equities gained +0.33% while currencies fell -0.12%. Oil importers were pressured, with the Indian rupee and South African rand down -0.74% and -0.65%, though Turkey underperformed heavily (-1.75%) as President Erodogan escalated his rhetorical battle with US National Security Advisor Bolton, saying "Bolton made a serious mistake (…) we will not compromise."

There was also a bit of a lift in sentiment from President Trump’s comments on the US-China trade negotiations, specifically saying that “talks with China are going very well”. On the other hand, he also tweeted a quote from a steel union official supporting his tariffs, so it’s not clear what the takeaway message should be. Dow Jones also reported later that trade progress was being made although the two sides were (unsurprisingly) not ready to conclude a deal. It now confirmed that the US delegation is to remain in Beijing for a third day of talks today and China has confirmed that they will release a post-meeting statement once talks are concluded although it’s not entirely clear if the US delegation will release a statement themselves. The more important talks are likely to come later this month in any case. Elsewhere, Bloomberg reported (citing sources) that President Trump is increasingly keen to strike a deal with China soon in an effort to perk up financial markets that have slumped on concerns over the trade war. In the meantime, the White House has crafted a bill which seeks to give the president broad authority to increase US tariffs if he considers other countries’ tariff and non-tariff measures to be too restrictive and President Trump is expected to urge Congress in his State of the Union address later this month to pass the new legislation.

Moving onto Trump’s first televised national address overnight. It was fairly low on substance for markets as he said more of same while discussing the ongoing US government shutdown and immigration policy. He reiterated that he considers the situation on the US's southern border to be a crisis and called on Congress to authorize $5 bn for increased border security and a wall. Congressional Democrats subsequently gave no indication that they will meet his demands. So for now, the shutdown is set to continue and around 800,000 federal employees will miss their paychecks on Friday. Nevertheless, S&P 500 futures rallied into and during the address and are trading +0.47% higher this morning. President Trump is set to meet with the congress leaders today at 3pm (New York time) to further discuss the issue.

This morning in Asia risk has continued to rally hard with the Nikkei (+1.43%), Hang Seng (+2.46%), Shanghai Comp (+1.59%) and Kospi (+1.88%) all up. Besides the positivity around the ongoing US-China trade negotiations, sentiment is also getting aided by the overnight news (per Bloomberg) that China’s Finance Ministry is set to propose an annual fiscal deficit target of 2.8% of GDP for 2019, marking a small budget expansion from the deficit target of 2.6% in 2018. The target isn’t final though and is subject to approval at a meeting of the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, in March. Meanwhile, Japan’s November real cash earnings data also came in strong at +1.1% yoy (vs. +0.4% yoy expected). Elsewhere, crude oil prices (WTI +1.59% and Brent +1.35%) are continuing their upward move this morning.

In other news, former Fed economist Nellie Liang withdrew her nomination for a seat on the Fed’s board of governors possibly giving an opportunity to President Trump to nominate someone whose views on interest rates are more streamlined with his own. Elsewhere, the World Bank lowered its growth projections in 2019 for the global economy by 0.1pp to 2.9% largely by shaving off 0.5pp growth for emerging markets to 4.2% while also downgrading its growth forecast for the Euro area slightly and keeping the growth forecast for the US at 2.5%.

As for Brexit, the parliament vote appears to now be confirmed for January 15th. Much of the newsflow ahead of the debate yesterday centred around PM May seeking EU assurances on the backstop provision however there didn’t appear to be any meaningful progress. Indeed, France’s Europe Minister said “there is nothing more we can do” to adjust the deal. A spokesman for PM May also denied that UK officials were talking to the EU about an Article 50 extension. Elsewhere the government lost a vote on funding a no-deal Brexit last night which complicates things a little for them as Parliament tries to stop a no-deal Brexit. Sterling faded in the afternoon yesterday to close down -0.46% while Gilts were a touch weaker (+2.0bps).

That wasn’t out of line with other bond markets however with Treasuries +3.2bps higher at 2.728% and the 2s10s curve at 14.0bps (-1.1bps), while in Europe Bunds nudged up to 0.226% (+0.5bps). BTPs (+5.5bps) stood out after coming within a couple of basis points of 3% again (closed 2.954%) after the recent (post-budget drama) 6 month low of 2.67% on January 2nd. Supply appeared to weigh with Bloomberg reporting that Italy’s Treasury was preparing a 15y bond deal, while yesterday we also had deal announcements from Ireland and Portugal, likely to price today.

The headline grabber data release in Europe yesterday came in the form of another soft print out of Germany, this time with the November industrial production report. Production was reported as falling -1.9% yoy compared to expectations for +0.3% mom, resulting in the annual figure dropping to -4.7% yoy and the lowest since 2009. Issues related to the auto sector, the timing of public holidays and, believe it or not, low water levels on the river Rhine (my favorite excuse ever) were all highlighted as negatively impacting the data. That appeared to filter through to weaker confidence readings for the broader Euro Area yesterday with the December releases out while in the US there wasn’t much excitement from yesterday’s releases. The December NFIB small business optimism reading fell 0.4pts in December to 104.4 but was well ahead of expectations while the November JOLTS report showed a steady quits rate at 2.3% and a modest tick lower in the hiring rate to 3.8% from 4.0%. These point to continued improvement in the wage outlook.

Looking ahead to today, the FOMC minutes this evening will likely be the highlight and with the Brexit debate resuming in parliament any headlines there will also be closely watched. Our team expect that the minutes will provide more colour on the Committee’s thinking around several key issues for market participants—namely, their views about headwinds from slowing global growth, progress on the Fed's balance sheet strategy, and the debate around the neutral policy rate. After Powell’s early-year semi U-turn, the minutes could be slightly dated though.

As for other data that’s due out, we’ll get November trade stats out of Germany this morning followed by Q3 unit labor costs data for the UK and the November unemployment rate for the Euro Area. In the US we’ll also get the latest MBA mortgage applications data. There should be plenty of eyes on today’s Fedspeak also in light of Powell’s comments last week with Bostic (1.20pm GMT), Evans (2pm GMT) and Rosengren (4.30pm GMT) all on the cards. The BoE’s Carney is also due to participate in an online Q&A this afternoon. Finally, it’s worth noting that US Trade Representative Lighthizer is due to meet EU Trade Commissioner Malmstrom today to discuss bilateral trade liberalization. It’s expected that both will also meet Japan’s trade and industry minister Seko to discuss China’s trade practices.