Market Brief, North America

Traders are cutting risk and buying the dollar going into the holiest of holies on the central bank calendar – the annual Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Treasury yields are rising, equity futures are dropping, and the trade-weighted greenback is up roughly 0.3 percent as markets position ahead of Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech next Friday morning. Mr. Powell is widely expected to argue against the arguably-premature loosening in financial conditions that has occurred since the July meeting, attempting to better align market forecasts with the central bank’s own terminal rate projections. This is unlikely to drive a...

Major asset classes are moving sideways and implied volatility in the currency markets is falling after a record of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting largely confirmed prevailing investor views. Oil and commodity prices are climbing after Chinese authorities signalled an acceleration in stimulus efforts. Bloomberg quoted state media sources as saying local governments had been authorized to sell an additional $226 billion in bonds, helping to support spending and avoid a “fiscal cliff”. President Xi Jinping said authorities would try to balance growth with disease-control policies, continuing the process of opening the economy up. The expressions of support come on...