Price action has been generally uninspiring, with US index futures and European stocks flat after UK inflation climbed faster than expected to the highest in a decade, heaping pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates, while Asian markets fell as investors fretted over early rate hikes by the Federal Reserve after strong retail earnings dented the stagflation narrative.  Ten-year Treasury yields held around 1.63% and the dollar was steady. Cryptocurrencies suffered a broad selloff, while oil extended losses amid talk of a coordinated U.S.-China release of reserves to tame prices. Gold rose. At 7:30 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 14 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.25 points, or 0.0.3% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 24.75 points, or 0.15%, boosted by gains in Tesla and other electric car-makers amid growing demand for EV makers.

Target Corp was the latest big-name retailer to report positive results, as it raised its annual forecasts and beat profit expectations, citing an early start in holiday shopping. But similar to Walmart, shares of the retailer fell 3.1% in premarket trade as its third-quarter margins were hit by supply-chain issues. Lowe's rose 2.2% after the home improvement chain raised its full-year sales forecast on higher demand from builders and contractors, as well as a strong U.S. housing market.

Wall Street indexes had ended higher on Tuesday after data showed retail sales jumped in October, and Walmart and Home Depot both flagged strength in consumer demand going into the holiday season. While the readings showed that a rise in inflation has not stifled economic growth so far, any further gains in prices could potentially dampen an economic recovery. Indeed, even as global stocks trade near all-time highs, worries are rising that growth could be derailed by inflation, the resurgent virus, or both. The question remains whether the jump in costs will prove transitory or become a bigger challenge that forces a sharper monetary policy response, roiling both shares and bonds. The market now sees a 19% probability of a rate hike by the Fed in their March 2022 meet, up from 11.8% probability last month.

“The markets are still driven by uncertainty regarding how transitory inflation is,” according to Sebastien Galy, senior macro strategist at Nordea Investment Funds. “The market is assessing the situation about inflation -- what is in the price and what is not.”

On the earnings front, Baidu reported a 13% jump in sales after growth in newer businesses such as the cloud helped offset a slowdown in its main internet advertising division. Nvidia and Cisco Systems are scheduled to report results later today

In premarket trading, Tesla inexplicably rose as much as 2.4% in U.S. pre-market trading, extending a bounce from the previous session after CEO Elon Musk disclosed even more stock sales. Peers Rivian and Lucid added 0.9% and 8.8%, respectively. Here are some of the biggest U.S. movers today:

• Electric-vehicle makers Rivian Automotive (RIVN US), Lucid (LCID US) and Canoo (GOEV US) all move higher in U.S. premarket trading on heavy volumes, extending their gains and after Rivian and Lucid notched up milestones in their market values on Tuesday. The gains for Rivian on Tuesday saw its market capitalization surpass Germany’s Volkswagen, while Lucid’s market value leapfrogged General Motors and Ford.
• Tesla (TSLA US) shares rise 1.3% in U.S. premarket trading, extending the bounce the EV maker saw in the prior session and after CEO Elon Musk disclosed more share sales.
• Visa (V US) shares slip in U.S. premarket trading after Amazon.com said it will stop accepting payments using Visa credit cards issued in the U.K. starting next year.
• Boeing (BA US) gains 1.9% in premarket trading after Wells Fargo upgrades the airplane maker to overweight from equal weight in a note, saying the risk-reward is now skewed positive.
• Citi initiates a pair trade of overweight Plug Power (PLUG US) and underweight Ballard Power Systems (BLDP US), downgrading the latter to neutral on weak sales in China and likely delay in meaningful fuel cell adoption. Ballard Power falls 3.4% in premarket trading.
• La-Z-Boy (LZB US) climbed 7% in postmarket trading after it reported adjusted earnings per share for the fiscal second quarter of 2022 that beat the average analyst estimate and boosted its quarterly dividend.
• StoneCo’s (STNE US) shares fall as much as 9% in postmarket trading Tuesday after the fintech reported a weaker-than-expected adjusted results for the third quarter.
• Chembio Diagnostics (CEMI US) rose 11% in extended trading after saying it submitted an Emergency Use Authorization application to the U.S FDA for its new DPP SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test.

European stocks treaded water with U.S. equity futures as the worst outbreak of Covid infections since the start of the pandemic held the rally in check. In the U.K., inflation climbed faster than expected to the highest in a decade, heaping pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates, pressing on the FTSE 100 to lag peer markets.

Asian stocks fell, halting a four-day rally, as investors factored in higher Treasury yields and the outlook for U.S. monetary policy to assess whether the region’s recent gains were excessive.   The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid as much as 0.7%, pulling back from a two-month high reached Tuesday. The banking sector contributed the most to Wednesday’s drop as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia reported cash earnings that were below some estimates. South Korea led the region’s decline, with the Kospi falling more than 1%, weighed down by bio-pharmaceutical firms. Asia’s stocks are taking a breather from a run-up driven by expectations for earnings to improve and economies to recover from quarters of pandemic-induced weakness. The benchmark is coming off a two-week gain of 1.5%.  “Shares are correcting recent gains, although I’d say it’s not much of a correction as the drop is mild,” said Tomo Kinoshita, a global market strategist at Invesco Asset Management in Tokyo. “The relatively solid economic performances in the U.S. and Europe signal positive trends for Asian exporters,” which will support equities over the long term, he said.  U.S. stocks climbed after data showed the biggest increase in U.S. retail sales since March, while results from Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc. showed robust demand. The 10-year Treasury yield hit 1.64%, gaining for a fourth day.

Japanese equities fell, cooling off after a four-day advance despite the yen’s drop to the lowest level against the dollar since 2017. Service providers and retailers were the biggest drags on the Topix, which dropped 0.6%. Recruit and Fast Retailing were the largest contributors to a 0.4% loss in the Nikkei 225. The yen slightly extended its decline after tumbling 0.6% against the greenback on Tuesday. The value of Japan’s exports gained 9.4% in October, the slowest pace in eight months, adding to signs that global supply constraints are still weighing on the economy.

Indian stocks fell, led by banking and energy companies, as worries over economic recovery and inflation hurt investors’ sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.5% to 60,008.33 in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index declined by 0.6%. The benchmark index has now dropped for five of seven sessions and is off 3.7% its record level reached on Oct. 18. All but five of the 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, led by a gauge of real estate companies.  Fitch Ratings kept a negative outlook on India’s sovereign rating, already at the lowest investment grade, citing concerns over public debt that’s the highest among similar rated emerging-market sovereigns.  While high-frequency data suggests India’s economic recovery is taking hold, central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said at an event on Tuesday that the recovery is uneven. “Feeble global cues are weighing on sentiment,” Ajit Mishra, a strategist with Religare Broking, said in a note. He expects indexes to slide further but the pace of decline to be gradual with Nifty having support at 17,700-17,800 level. Shares of Paytm are scheduled to start trading on Thursday after the digital payment company raised $2.5b in India’s biggest initial share sale. Local markets will be closed on Friday for a holiday.  Reliance Industries contributed the most to Sensex’s decline, decreasing 2.1%. The index heavyweight has lost 5% this week, headed for the biggest weekly drop since June 27.

In rates, Treasuries were steady with yields slightly richer across the curve and gilts mildly outperforming after paring early losses. Treasury yields except 20-year are richer by less than 1bp across curve with 30-year sector outperforming slightly; 10-year yields around 1.63% after rising as high as 1.647% in early Asia session. Focal points for U.S. session include 20-year bond auction -- against backdrop of Fed decision to not taper in the sector, made after last week’s poorly bid 30-year bond sale, and seven Fed speakers scheduled. The $23BN 20-year new issue at 1pm ET is first at that size after cuts announced this month; WI yield at 2.06% is 4bp richer than last month’s, which tailed the WI by 2.5bp. In Europe, gilts richen slightly across the short end, short-sterling futures fade an open drop after a hot inflation print. Peripheral spreads are marginally wider to core.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index drifted after earlier rising to its highest level in over a year, spurred by strong U.S. retail sales and factory output data Tuesday; the greenback traded mixed versus its Group-of-10 peers though most currencies were consolidating recent losses against the greenback. The pound reached its strongest level against the euro in nearly nine months after U.K. inflation climbed faster than expected to the highest in a decade, heaping pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates. The Australian dollar hit a six-week low as third quarter wage data missed the central bank’s target, prompting offshore funds to sell the currency; the three-year yield fell back under 1%. The yen declined to its lowest level in more than four years as growing wagers of quicker policy normalization in the U.S. contrasted with the outlook in Japan, where interest rates are expected to be kept low. Super-long bonds fell.

Volatility broke through the recent calm in currency markets, where the cost of hedging against volatility in the euro against the dollar over the next month climbed the most since the pandemic struck in March 2020. The move comes as traders bake in bets on faster rate hikes to curb inflation.

The Turkish lira extended the week’s downward move, weakening another 2% against the dollar after comments from Erdogan sent the USDTRY hitting record highs of 10.5619

The Chinese yuan advanced to its highest level since 2015 against a basket of trading partners’ currencies following the dollar’s surge. Bloomberg’s replica of the CFETS basket index rises 0.3% to 101.9571, closer to the level that triggered a shock devaluation by the PBOC in 2015, testing the central bank’s tolerance before stepping in with intervention.

In commodities, crude futures dropped as the market weighs the potential for a join U.S.-China stockpile-reserve release. WTI is down more than 1%, back on a $79-handle; Brent slips back toward $81.50, trading near the middle of this week’s range. Most base metals are under pressure with LME copper down as much as 1.4%. Spot gold adds $10 near $1,860/oz. European gas surged to the highest level in a month as delays to a controversial new pipeline from Russia stoked fears of a supply shortage with winter setting in.

Cryptocurrencies remained lower after a tumble, with Bitcoin steadying around the $60,000 level.

Looking at the day ahead now, and data releases include October data on UK and Canadian CPI, as well as US housing starts and building permits. Central bank speakers include ECB President Lagarde and the ECB’s Schnabel, the Fed’s Williams, Bowman, Mester, Waller, Daly, Evans and Bostic, and the BoE’s Mann. Finally, the ECB will be publishing their Financial Stability Review, and earnings releases today include Nvidia, Cisco, Lowe’s and Target.

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures little changed at 4,696.00
• STOXX Europe 600 up 0.1% to 489.79
• MXAP down 0.5% to 200.06
• MXAPJ down 0.4% to 656.01
• Nikkei down 0.4% to 29,688.33
• Topix down 0.6% to 2,038.34
• Hang Seng Index down 0.2% to 25,650.08
• Shanghai Composite up 0.4% to 3,537.37
• Sensex down 0.4% to 60,064.33
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 0.7% to 7,369.93
• Kospi down 1.2% to 2,962.42
• Brent Futures down 0.8% to $81.79/bbl
• Gold spot up 0.5% to $1,859.93
• U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 95.95
• German 10Y yield little changed at -0.25%
• Euro little changed at $1.1310

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

• Bond traders are bracing for a key test Wednesday as the Treasury looks to sell its first long-dated debt since inflation worries spooked buyers at last week’s poorly received 30-year auction
• Increasingly stretched prices in property and financial markets, risk-taking by non-banks and elevated borrowing pose a threat to euro-area stability, the European Central Bank warned
• Germany is giving investors a rare chance to grab some of Europe’s safest and positive-yielding debt. The country will sell one billion euros ($1.13 billion) of its longest-dated debt at 10:30 a.m. London on Wednesday. The country’s 30-year notes are currently trading with a yield 0.09%. It’s a paltry rate, but probably the last time for a while that Germany will offer the maturity
• ECB Governing Council member Olli Rehn says euro- area inflation is accelerating due to increasing demand pushing up the price of energy and supply bottlenecks, according to interview in Finland’s Talouselama magazine
• The yuan’s advance to a six-year high versus China’s trading partners this week has investors asking how far the central bank will let the rally run. The yuan extended gains on Wednesday against a basket of 24 currencies of the nation’s trading partners, bringing it close to the level that triggered a shock devaluation by the People’s Bank of China in 2015
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to continue fighting for lower interest rates, sending a clear signal to investors a day before the central bank sets its policy. The lira weakened

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

Asian equity markets traded mixed and struggled to sustain the positive lead from the US where better than expected Industrial Production and Retail Sales data spurred the major indices, in which the S&P 500 reclaimed the 4,700 level and briefly approached to within four points of its all-time high. ASX 200 (-0.7%) was led lower by underperformance in the top-weighted financials sector amid weakness in the largest lender CBA despite a 20% jump in quarterly cash profit, as operating income was steady and it noted that loan margins were significantly lower. Mining related stocks also lagged in Australia due to the recent declines in global commodity prices amid the stronger USD and higher US yields. Nikkei 225 (-0.4%) retraced its opening gains after disappointing Machinery Orders and miss on Exports which grew at the slowest pace in eight months, while the KOSPI (-1.2%) suffered due to virus concerns with daily infections at the second highest on record for South Korea. Hang Seng (-0.3%) and Shanghai Comp. (+0.4%) were varied with Hong Kong dragged lower by tech stocks including NetEase post-earnings, while the mainland was choppy as markets continued to digest the recent Biden-Xi meeting that was described by President Biden as a 'good meeting' and in which they discussed the need for nuclear “strategic stability” talks. US and China also agreed to provide access to each other’s journalists, although there were also comments from Commerce Secretary Raimondo that China is not living up to phase 1 trade commitments and it was reported that China is to speed up plans to replace US and foreign tech. Finally, 10yr JGBs were flat with demand hampered following the declines in T-notes, although downside was stemmed amid the flimsy sentiment across Asia-Pac trade and with the BoJ also in the market for JPY 925bln of JGBs mostly concentrated in 1-3yr and 5-10yr maturities.

Top Asian News

• Asia Stocks Set to Snap Four-Day Advance as Kospi Leads Decline
• Gold Rises as Fed Officials Feed Debate on Inflation Response
• Deadly Toxic Air Chokes Delhi as India Clings to Coal Power
• PBOC May Start Raising Rates by 10bps Every Quarter in 2022: TD

European equities (Stoxx 600 +0.1%) trade with little in the way of firm direction as the Stoxx 600 lingers around its ATH printed during yesterday’s session. The handover from the APAC session was mostly a softer one after the region failed to sustain the positive lead from the US which saw the S&P 500 approach within four points of its all-time high. Stateside, US futures are just as uninspiring as their European counterparts (ES flat) ahead of another busy day of Fed speak and pre-market earnings from retail names Target (TGT) and TJX Companies (TJK) with Cisco (CSCO) and NVIDIA (NVDA) due to report after-hours. Markets still await a decision on the next Fed Chair which President Biden said will come in around four days yesterday; as it stands, PredictIt assigns a circa 65% chance of Powell winning the renomination. Sectors in Europe have a marginal positive tilt with Media names outperforming peers alongside gains in Vivendi (+1.0%) after Italian prosecutors asked a judge to drop a case against Vivendi's owner and CEO for alleged market manipulation. Travel & Leisure names are the notable underperformer amid losses in sector heavyweight Evolution Gaming (-9.6%) who account for 14% of the sector with the Co. accused of taking illegal wagers. In terms of individual movers, Siemens Healthineers (+4.6%) is one of the best performers in the region after the Co. noted that revenues are on track to grow 6-8% between 2023 and 2025. UK Banking names such as Lloyds (+1.3%) and Natwest (+1.1%) have benefitted from the favourable rate environment in the UK with today’s inflation data further cementing expectations for a move in rates by the BoE next month. Conversely, this acted as a drag on the UK homebuilder sector at the open before moves were eventually scaled back. SSE (-4.5%) underperforms after announcing a GBP 12.5bln investment to accelerate its net zero ambitions.

Top European News

• Epstein’s Paris Apartment Listed for $14 Million, Telegraph Says
• Volkswagen Shares Stall as Analysts Doubt Its EV Street Cred
• Germany to Move Ahead With Tighter Covid Curbs Amid Record Cases
• U.K. Urges EU Not to Start Trade War If Brexit Deal Suspended

In FX, the Greenback extended Tuesday’s post-US retail sales and ip gains to set new 2021/multi-year highs overnight when the index hit 96.266 and several Dollar pairs probed or crossed psychological round numbers. However, the latest bull run has abated somewhat amidst some recovery gains in certain rival currencies and a general bout of consolidation ahead of housing data, another raft of Fed speakers and Usd 23 bn 20 year supply that will be of note after a bad debut for new long londs last week, not to mention tepid receptions for 3 and 10 year offerings prior to that.

• NZD/AUD - A marked change in the tide down under as the Aud/Nzd cross reverses sharply from around 1.0450 to sub-1.0400 and gives the Kiwi enough impetus to regain 0.7000+ status vs its US peer with extra incentive provided by NZ PM Ardern announcing that the entire country is expected to end lockdown and move to a new traffic light system after November 29, while Auckland’s domestic borders will reopen from December 15 for the fully vaccinated and those with negative COVID-19 tests. Conversely, the Aussie is struggling to stay within sight of 0.7300 against its US counterpart in wake of broadly in line Q3 wage prices that leaves the y/y rate still some way short of the 3% pace deemed necessary to lift overall inflation by the RBA.
• GBP/CAD - Sterling is striving to buck the overall trend with help from more forecast-topping UK data that should give the BoE a green light for lifting the Bank Rate in December, as headline CPI came in at 4.2% y/y, core at 3.4% and PPI prints indicate more price pressure building in the pipeline. Cable printed a minor new w-t-d peak circa 1.3474 in response before waning and Eur/Gbp fell below the prior y-t-d low and 0.8400, but is now back above awaiting more news on the Brexit front and a speech from one of the less hawkish MPC members, Mann. Elsewhere, the Loonie is hovering around 1.2550 vs the Greenback and looking toward Canadian inflation for some fundamental direction as oil prices continue to fluctuate near recent lows, but Usd/Cad may also be attracted to decent option expiry interest between 1.2540-55 in 1.12 bn.
• CHF/EUR/JPY - All straddling or adjacent to round numbers against the Dollar, but the Franc lagging below 0.9300 on yield differentials, while the Euro has recovered from a fresh 2021 trough under 1.1300 and Fib support at 1.1290 to fill a gap if nothing else, and the Yen just defended 115.00 irrespective of disappointing Japanese machinery orders and internals within the latest trade balance.

In commodities, WTI and Brent benchmarks are pressured this morning but the magnitude of the action, circa USD 0.70/bbl at the time of writing, is less pronounced when compared to the range of the week thus far and particularly against last week’s moves. Newsflow has been slim and the downside action has arisen without fresh catalysts or drivers; note, participants are cognisant of influence perhaps being exerted by today’s WTI Dec’21 option expiry. To briefly surmise the morning’s action, Vitol executives provided bullish commentary citing limited capacity to deal with shocks and on that theme, there were reports of an explosion at an oil pipeline in Southern Iran, said to be due to aging equipment. This, alongside reports that Belarus is restricting oil flows to Poland for three-days for maintenance purposes, have not steadied the benchmarks. Elsewhere, last night’s private inventories were mixed but bullish overall, with the headline a smaller than expected build and gasoline a larger than expected draw. On gasoline, some desks posit that this draw may serve to increase pressure for a US SPR release, and as such look to today’s EIA release which is expected to print a gasoline draw of 0.575M. Moving to metals, spot gold and silver are firmer this morning but, in a similar vein to crude, remain well within familiar ranges as specific catalysts have been light and initial USD action has largely fizzled out to the index pivoting the U/C mark. More broadly, base metals are pressured as inventories of iron ore are at their highest for almost three years in China as demand drops, with this having a knock-on impact on coking coal, for instance.

US Event Calendar

• 7am: Nov. MBA Mortgage Applications, prior 5.5%
• 8:30am: Oct. Building Permits, est. 1.63m, prior 1.59m, revised 1.59m
• 8:30am: Oct. Building Permits MoM, est. 2.8%, prior -7.7%, revised -7.8%
• 8:30am: Oct. Housing Starts MoM, est. 1.5%, prior -1.6%; Housing Starts, est. 1.58m, prior 1.56m

DB's Henry Allen concludes the overnight wrap

Even as inflation jitters remained on investors’ radars, that didn’t prevent risk assets pushing onto fresh highs yesterday, as investor sentiment was bolstered by strong economic data and decent corporate earnings releases. In fact by the close of trade, the S&P 500 (+0.39%) had closed just -0.02% beneath its all-time closing record, in a move that also brought the index’s YTD gains back above +25%, whilst Europe’s STOXX 600 (+0.17%) hit an all-time high as it posted its 16th gain in the last 18 sessions.

Starting with the data, we had a number of positive US releases for October out yesterday, which echoed the strength we’d seen in some of the other prints, including the ISMs and nonfarm payrolls that had both surprised to the upside in the last couple of weeks. Headline retail sales posted their biggest gain since March, with a +1.7% advance (vs. +1.4% expected), whilst the measure excluding autos and gas stations was also up by a stronger-than-expected +1.4% (vs. +0.7% expected). Then we had the industrial production numbers, which showed a +1.6% gain in October (vs. +0.9% expected), though it’s worth noting around half of that increase was a recovery from Hurricane Ida’s effects. And that came against the backdrop of solid earnings results from Walmart and Home Depot as well earlier in the session. They saw Walmart raise their full-year guidance for adjusted EPS to around $6.40, up from $6.20-$6.35 previously, whilst Home Depot reported comparable sales that were up +6.1%. To be honest it was difficult to find much in the way of weak data, with the NAHB’s housing market index for November up to a 6-month high of 83 (vs. 80 expected).

Amidst the optimism however, concerns about near-term (and longer-term) inflation pressures haven’t gone away just yet, and the 5yr US breakeven rose again, increasing +1.1bps yesterday to an all-time high of 3.21%. Bear in mind that just 12 days ago (before the upside CPI release) that measure stood at 2.89%, so we’ve seen a pretty sizeable shift in investor expectations in a very short space of time as they’ve reacted to the prospect inflation won’t be as transitory as previously believed. The increase was matched by a +1.3bps increase in nominal 5yr yields to a post-pandemic high of 1.27%. The 10yr yield also saw a slight gain of +1.9bps to close at 1.63%, and this morning is up a further +0.7bps. Against this backdrop, the dollar index (+0.58%) strengthened further to its highest level in over a year yesterday, though the reverse picture has seen the euro weaken beneath $1.13 this morning for the first time since July 2020.

Speaking of inflation, there were fresh pressures on European natural gas prices yesterday, which surged by +17.81% to €94.19 per megawatt-hour. That’s their biggest move higher in over a month, and follows the decision from the German energy regulator to temporarily suspend the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, adding further short-term uncertainty to the winter outlook. UK natural gas futures (+17.15%) witnessed a similar surge, and their US counterparts were also up +3.19%. Elsewhere in the energy complex, Brent crude (+0.46%) oil prices moved higher as well.

Overnight in Asia, equity indices are trading lower this morning including the CSI (-0.05%), the Nikkei (-0.45%) and the Hang Seng (-0.55%), though the Shanghai Composite (+0.19%) has posted a modest advance. There were also some constructive discussions in the aftermath of the Biden-Xi summit the previous day, with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan saying that the two had spoken about the need for nuclear “strategic stability” talks, which could offer the prospect of a further easing in tensions if they do come about. Looking forward, futures are indicating a muted start in US & Europe later on, with those on the S&P 500 (-0.03%) and the DAX (-0.15%) pointing to modest declines.

Elsewhere, markets are still awaiting some concrete news on who might be nominated as the next Fed Chair, though President Biden did say to reporters that an announcement would be coming “in about four days”, so investors will be paying close attention to any announcements. Senator Sherrod Brown, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, who earlier in the week noted a pick was imminent, followed up by proclaiming he was “certain” that the Senate would confirm either of Chair Powell or Governor Brainard.

Staying on the US, as Congress waits for the Congressional Budget Office’s score on Biden’s social and climate spending bill, moderate Democratic Senator Manchin noted continued uncertainty about the bill’s anti-inflationary bona fides. Elsewhere, the impending debt ceiling has worked its way back into the spotlight, with Treasury Secretary Yellen saying that she’ll soon provide updates on how much cash the Treasury will have to pay the government’s bills. The market has started to price in at least some risk, with yields on Treasury bills maturing in mid-to-late December higher than neighbouring maturities, and the Washington Post’s Tony Romm tweeted yesterday that the new deadline that the Treasury was expected to share soon was on December 15.

Turning to Germany, coalition negotiations are continuing between the centre-left SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP, and yesterday saw SPD general secretary Lars Klingbeil state that “The goal is very clear, to have a completed coalition agreement in the next week”. We’ve heard similar comments from the Greens’ general secretary, Michael Kellner, who also said that “We aim to achieve a coalition agreement next week". One issue they’ll have to grapple with is the resurgence in Covid-19 cases there, and Chancellor Merkel and Vice Chancellor Scholz (who would become chancellor if agreement on a traffic-light coalition is reached) are set to have a video conference with regional leaders tomorrow on the issue.

Staying on the pandemic, it’s been reported by the Washington Post that the Biden administration will announce this week that it plans to purchase 10 million doses of Pfizer’s Covid pill. The company will submit data for the pill to regulators before Thanksgiving. It’s not just the US that will benefit from Pfizer’s pill however, as the pharmaceutical company will also license generic, inexpensive versions of the pill to low- and middle-income countries, which should be a global boost in the fight against the virus.

Looking at yesterday’s other data, the main release came from the UK employment numbers, which showed that the number of payrolled employees rose by +160k in October, whilst the unemployment rate in the three months to September fell to 4.3% (vs. 4.4% expected). That release was better than the Bank of England’s MPC had expected in their November projections, and sterling was the top-performing G10 currency yesterday (+0.06% vs. USD) as the statistics were seen strengthening the case for a December rate hike.

In response to that, gilts underperformed their European counterparts, with 10yr yields up +2.7bps. That contrasted with yields on 10yr bunds (-1.4bps), OATs (-1.8bps) and BTPs (-2.6bps), which all moved lower on the day. Interestingly, that divergence between bunds and treasury yields widened further yesterday, moving up to 188bps, the widest since late-April.

To the day ahead now, and data releases include October data on UK and Canadian CPI, as well as US housing starts and building permits. Central bank speakers include ECB President Lagarde and the ECB’s Schnabel, the Fed’s Williams, Bowman, Mester, Waller, Daly, Evans and Bostic, and the BoE’s Mann. Finally, the ECB will be publishing their Financial Stability Review, and earnings releases today include Nvidia, Cisco, Lowe’s and Target.