Market Brief, North America

In a return to the “good news is bad news” dynamic that drove price action through the post-global financial crisis years, markets are back in risk-off mode this morning. Data out yesterday showed US housing starts jumped in May by the most since 2016, providing more evidence of underlying resilience in the world’s largest economy – while also making additional rate hikes more likely. The dollar is higher, yields are flat, and commodity-linked currencies are down across the board. Jerome Powell is expected to deliver a hawkish message when he appears in front of the House Financial Services Committee this morning. Last week’s “dot...

US consumer inflation slowed as expected last month, giving the Federal Reserve room to skip a rate hike at tomorrow’s meeting. According to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, the headline consumer price index rose 4 percent in May from the same period last year, up 0.1 percent on a month-over-month basis. This was slightly below the 4.1 percent and 0.1 percent consensus estimates among economists polled by the major data providers ahead of the release. With gasoline prices tumbling, energy costs slid 3.6 percent month-over-month, while the food index inched 0.2 percent higher. New vehicle prices fell -0.2...