Headlines: Iran supreme leader reportedly says near-weapons-grade uranium stockpile must stay in Iran Euro area economic activity falls at quickest pace in over two years in May German business activity falls for a second consecutive month amid rising cost pressures French…
onomic activity falls markedly in May, steepest decline in five-and-a-half years UK economic activity slides in May on Middle East conflict, political turmoil UK industrial orders for May fall at quickest pace since 2020 on higher cost pressures ECB policymaker Rehn: We are moving towards the adverse scenario BOJ policymaker Koeda: Inflationary risk is already materialising Markets: WTI crude up over 2% to $100.53 USD leads, AUD lags on the day 10-year Treasury yields up 4 bps to 4.61% Equities drop with DAX down 0.5% and S&P 500 futures down 0.3% Gold down 0.7% to $4,510 Bitcoin down 0.6% to $77,196 The session started off with a more tepid mood as US-Iran talks continue to be the main draw. But with the release of euro area and UK PMI data, the focus was split a little amid a rather set of dismal readings from the region
The French report in particular was rather poor, reaffirming stagflation worries as we get into the second quarter of the year. And that will just make things tougher for the ECB, who look to be trying to tee up a rate hike for June next month. Shortly after, there was a slight pick up in the market mood on some murmurs about Pakistani army chief’s visit to Iran.
I cautioned on the reporting earlier here , with it coming from inconsistent sources. S&P 500 futures erased losses to move up by 0.2% before quickly cutting that back. And as we look to close out the session, a Reuters headline is now sparking fears about the US and Iran continuing to diverge on nuclear talks.