It is all about auto tariffs
There is increased hope that you the US and EU would come to an agreement about autos. There was a report of a US offer to suspend tariff threats on EU made cars if the EU bloc lifts its duties on US autos. That helped to lift European auto makers including Daimler (up 3.81%), BMW (up 3.6%), Porsche (up 3.48%) and Volkswagen (up 4.9%).
- German DAX rose 1.2%
- France's CAC rose 0.9%
- UK's FTSE rose 0.4%
- Spain's Ibex rose 1.0%
- Italy's FTSE MIB rose 1.05%
- Portugal's PSI 20 rose 0.98%
In the 10 year note sector in Europe, yields were mixed:
- Germany 0.302%, -0.3 basis points
- UK 1.261%, -1.6 basis points
- France 0.645%, unchanged
- Spain 1.327%, +2.7 basis points
- Italy 2.717%, +6.3 basis points
- Portugal 1.798%, +4.2 basis points
Iin other markets as London/European traders look to exit:
- spot gold is up $3.20 or +0.25% at 1257.84
- WTI crude oil futures are down $-.68 or -0.92% at $73.47
- Bitcoin on Coinbase is trading down -$89 at $6595
US stocks are higher:
- S&P up 14.86 points or 0.55%
- NASDAQ of 48 points or 0.64%
- Dow up 150 points or 0.62%
US yields are mixed with the yield curve flattening:
- two-year 2.546%, +2.2 basis points
- five-year 2.728%, +0.7 basis points
- 10 year 2.829%, -0.2 basis points
- 30 year 2.947%, -1.2 basis points
- 2-10 spread is down to 28.3 basis points (lowest since August 2007)
IN the forex market at midday in the US, the NZD is the strongest now and the JPY and GBPU are the weakest. The GBP fell on reports that Germany considers the Brexit proposal unworkable. At the start of the day, the EUR was the strongest while the JPY and USD was the weakest.
