Market Brief, North America

Global currency markets are stabilising and the euro remains essentially unmoved after the European Central Bank left its main policy settings unchanged while avoiding telegraphing a move in September. In a mostly unmodified statement, officials said “domestic price pressures are still high, services inflation is elevated and headline inflation is likely to remain above target well into next year,” while acknowledging that most measures of underlying price pressures “were either stable or edged down in June”. Potentially foreshadowing comments from President Lagarde during the press conference, policymakers inserted a sentence warning market participants against inferring signals about the future direction...

Currency markets are stabilising as Sunday’s rally in the dollar reverses, suggesting that the weekend’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump has not impacted the near-term investment outlook in any meaningful way. The greenback is holding steady against a weakening safe-haven yen as two- and ten-year Treasury yields slip from yesterday’s highs, the pound and Canadian dollar are flat, and the Mexican peso is clawing its way higher. With the exception of the loonie, every major currency is up against the dollar on a five-day basis. In equity markets, volatility expectations remain elevated around the November election date, but Donald Trump’s...