17th July 2013 - So far

European stock markets trading flat this morning
USD trading higher against rivals, in core govt bonds (Bunds and Gilts are also flat)

16^th – some losses for the Dow and S&P, very strong numbers from Goldman Sachs. 

Today and tomorrow – focus on Bernanke’s testimony. Probably signal tapering as early as the start of 2014, and keep interest rates at record lows. All eyes on this!

Unemployment data for the UK came out – ONS released the data just over an hour ago, which shows the biggest fall in 11 years -  falls by 57000 to 2.51 million in the 3 months to May. This means that the unemployment rate is at 7.8% (down from 8.0%) However, Scottish unemployment rises by 8,000 increasing for the first time this year (7.5% unemployment – 205,000 out of work! So still in a better position than the rest of the UK)

BoE releasing meeting minutes from the last policy meeting – the first meeting minutes with Mark Carnet as Chairman. Will be interesting to see thought on QE here.