S&P 500 futures celebrated Friday the 13th with a brand new record highs on Friday boosted by Walt Disney’s forecast-beating results, while signs of cooling inflation and a strong recovery in corporate earnings kept the indexes on track for a second straight week of gains. But the real party today was in Europe, where stocks headed for the 10th consecutive record high, the longest winning streak since 1999, as bullishness swept across markets after a blowout earnings season and economic recovery out of lockdowns. Asian markets, Treasury yields and the dollar dipped while cryptos surged with both bitcoin and ethereum up around 5%. At 730 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 46 points, or 0.13%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.5 points, or 0.06%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 3 points, or 0.01%.

“Even though the delta variant keeps weighing on market sentiment in many regions like Asia, investors are optimistic about countries with more aggressive vaccination programs in place, such as Europe and the U.S.,” said Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades.

So far this week, the Dow and the S&P 500 have gained 0.8% and 0.5% respectively, boosted by a ~1.1% gain in economy-linked value stocks. Disney jumped 5.4% in premarket trading after it topped Wall Street expectations for quarterly earnings as its streaming services picked up more customers than expected and pandemic-hit U.S. theme parks returned to profitability. Here are some more of the biggest U.S. movers today:

• Activision Blizzard Inc rose 0.8% after Citigroup upgrade the video game publisher’s stock to “buy” from “neutral”.
• Airbnb (ABNB) falls 3.9% with analysts saying its disappointing guidance for 3Q will provide fuel to bears on the stock, though they argue that the long-term attractions of the company remain intact.
• Disney (DIS) shares climb 5% in premarket trading after the group reported a strong recovery for its Parks business and a solid quarter for its Disney+ streaming service, with analysts expecting further good news from the latter to emerge as the year goes on.
• DoorDash (DASH) analysts increased their price targets on the stock after the food delivery company reported 2Q results that beat market expectations. Its still still fell 5.4% and the Street acknowledged a possible risk to the outlook given the guidance for weaker-than-normal seasonality, as well as near-term concerns around the prospect of biggest shareholder SoftBank reducing its stake.
• Rocket Cos. (RKT) shares rise 5.3% with analysts saying the mortgage firm’s guidance for 3Q is ahead of expectations.
• Philip Morris International moved closer to the acquisition of Vectura Group, a maker of asthma drugs, after the company’s board backed the tobacco giant’s 1.02 billion-pound ($1.4 billion) offer over a lower bid from Carlyle Group.

The best earnings season of all time (and it’s all downhill from here), improving economic data and the Senate’s passage of a large infrastructure bill have all reinforced investors’ belief in the economic recovery, pushing U.S. stocks to all-time highs in the past few sessions. Concerns over higher inflation and a sooner-than-anticipated policy tapering by the Federal Reserve have also faded after the latest data showed the pace of increase in U.S. consumer prices slowed in July even as producer prices posted their biggest annual increase in more than a decade. Investors now await the minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting, due next week, and the annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later in August for policy cues.

As Bloomberg notes, Europe and the U.S. have pushed ahead with inoculations, attracting investors as travel and reopenings gather pace. Traders plowed $1.5 billion into European equity funds this week, the most in two months, according to Bank of America. Along with the wave of strong corporate results, the global backdrop is sufficient for some strategists to predict a rebound in the reflation trade tied to economic revival.

“It’s really hard to keep people back, or put people back, in lockdown,” Ann Miletti, head of active equity at Wells Fargo Asset Management, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. She flagged “pent-up demand” but also warned of the risk of an equity correction after a prolonged period of calm.

Overnight, MSCI’s index of world stocks also hit a new record high. European stocks headed for the longest winning streak since 1999 as a wave of global euphoria swept across markets. The Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.2%, poised for a tenth straight record close, and France’s CAC 40 approached the highest in more than two decades. The CAC 40’s 24% rise so far this year ranks second only to some Nordic benchmarks among major western European equity indexes. Stuffed with cyclical shares, the gauge may be headed for further outperformance on signs the global economy is shrugging off the delta variant.

Adidas advanced 2% in Germany after the company agreed to sell its underperforming Reebok business to Authentic Brands for up to 2.1 billion euros ($2.5 billion). The price is probably “a bit better” than investors’ expectations, with the majority of proceeds likely to be returned to shareholders via a buyback next year, according to Berenberg.  UEFA is putting the final touches to a rescue package valued at as much as 6 billion euros ($7 billion) to help European soccer recover from the impact of the pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter.

Here are some of the other biggest European movers today:

• Zooplus shares surge as much as 43% in Frankfurt trading to match the value of a EU390 a share offer from buyout firm Hellman & Friedman.
• Babcock shares rise as much as 8.5% after the U.K. outsourcing company agreed to sell its Frazer-Nash consultancy arm to KBR for GBP293m, a move Shore Capital says is a “positive step.”
• SimCorp shares gain as much as 3.8% after earnings and new CEO announcement, with Handelsbanken saying that the software firm saw a “strong” 2Q.
• Ipsen shares drop as much as 12%. The pharmaceutical firm’s withdrawal of the U.S. regulatory filing for its drug palovarotene, done to complete further data analyses, “comes as a surprise,” Jefferies writes in a note.
• ForFarmers shares fall as much as 7.6% to a record low following 1H earnings. KBC said the animal feed company’s update was disappointing, lowering its recommendation to hold and noting an “abnormally fierce battle for market share.”

Unlike the unbridled buying frenzy in Europe and the US, Asian stocks fell for a second day, and were set to erase the week’s earlier advance, as technology heavyweights dropped on a combination of concerns over China’s regulations and chip demand. The MSCI Asia Pacific index lost as much as 0.6% on Friday, on pace for a weekly drop. The biggest drags were a gauge including the largest makers of memory chips and a measure of consumer-discretionary stocks including Alibaba Group. South Korean equity gauges were among the worst performers in the region as Samsung Electronics sank to its lowest level since December. Read more: Fear Overwhelms Greed for Kospi China on Thursday released a five-year blueprint calling for greater regulation of vast parts of the economy. It said authorities would “actively” work on legislation in areas including national security, technology and monopolies. Weighing further on sentiment for chips stocks was Apple partner Hon Hai Precision Industry’s downbeat projection for this quarter’s sales of gadgets including smartphones. “The general demand outlook is weaker than people expect. That can affect market sentiment on the whole sector,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Charles Shum said, in reference to semiconductors. As for equities, “the valuation/price at this level prices in all the positive factors — higher pricing, margin improvements — over the next two years,” he said. Rising coronavirus cases in the region continued to keep investors wary, with Asia’s stock benchmark now down year-to-date after erasing gains of as much as 10%.

Thailand’s new Covid cases reached a daily record as the death toll increased, while South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum urged the public to refrain from traveling during a three-day holiday starting Saturday. Philippine stocks retreated for a second day, driving the nation’s benchmark equities index to its sharpest loss since June 2020, amid concerns coronavirus infections will keep spreading

Japanese stocks completed a two-week advance as gains on Wall Street outweighed growing concerns over the pandemic’s spread. The Topix and the Nikkei 225 rose 1.4% and 0.6% this week, respectively. The rally coincided with the S&P 500’s climb to a record after the U.S. Senate passed a $550 billion infrastructure spending package. “Value stocks performed well this week due to expectations over the U.S. infrastructure bill,” said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, a market strategist at Mizuho Securities. Meanwhile, “the virus outbreak is expanding,“ he said. Equity gains were more modest on Friday, with the Topix adding just 0.1% to 1,956.39. Services stocks led the advance, as 15 of 33 sectors gained; 1,041 of 2,188 shares rose, while 1,030 fell. Recruit Holdings Co. contributed the most to the gain, increasing 10%. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% to 27,977.15. U.S. index futures were steady during Asia trading hours. On Thursday, U.S. stocks set another record high even as the S&P 500 settles into the narrowest trading range since before the Covid pandemic roiled global financial markets. A report showed applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits dropped for the third week in a row. “Japan is in a wait-and-see mode, and the earnings season is coming to an end,” said Mamoru Shimode, chief strategist at Resona Asset Management. “It will have to wait until the global economic recovery outlook picks up again.” Terminal users can read more in our markets live blog

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.5% to close at 7,628.90, another record high. The benchmark rose for a fourth day and was underpinned by gains in health and utilities stocks. For the week, the index added 1.2%. Premier Investments was among the best performers after being raised to buy at UBS. Chalice Mining was one of the biggest laggards, falling to its lowest since April 21. In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.6% to 12,764.06

In rates, the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was last 1.3489%, little changed from its U.S. close of 1.367% on Thursday.  Treasuries edged higher even as stocks extend gains in Europe and head for the longest winning streak since 1999. Treasury yields were richer by up to 2bp across 10year yields which sit around 1.40%, flattening 2s10s spread by 1.9bp on the day; in 10-year sector, Treasuries outperform bunds by 2bp and gilts by 1.5bp so far on the day. Volumes remained muted with summer trading in full effect and risk events of CPI and U.S. auctions passing. Gilts and bunds both underperform.

In FX, the dollar held firm on Friday, staying near its highest level in four months against a basket of currencies as investors looked for more hints from the Federal Reserve on its plans to reduce monetary stimulus. The dollar index firmed to 92.976 , near Wednesday’s four-month high of 93.195. Analysts at Commonwealth Bank of Australia said a tapering announcement next month was not currently widely expected.

“However, we expect market participants to be given some hints about tapering in next week’s FOMC minutes and Chair Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole at the end of the month,” they wrote in a note.

In commodities, oil prices fell for a second straight day after the International Energy Agency warned that demand growth for crude and its products had slowed sharply

Looking at the day ahead we get the latest import price index reading and the preliminary reading of the August University of Michigan sentiment survey. Watch out for inflation expectations within the report.

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures little changed at 4,456.75
• STOXX Europe 600 up 0.2% to 475.58
• MXAP down 0.4% to 199.62
• MXAPJ down 0.7% to 656.38
• Nikkei down 0.1% to 27,977.15
• Topix up 0.1% to 1,956.39
• Hang Seng Index down 0.5% to 26,391.62
• Shanghai Composite down 0.2% to 3,516.30
• Sensex up 0.9% to 55,364.83
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.5% to 7,628.92
• Kospi down 1.2% to 3,171.29
• German 10Y yield little changed at -0.460%
• Euro little changed at $1.1737
• Brent Futures down 0.7% to $70.81/bbl
• Gold spot up 0.2% to $1,756.03
• U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 92.98

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

• President Joe Biden is sending about 3,000 U.S. troops to Kabul to help evacuate more diplomats from the U.S. embassy, underscoring just how badly the U.S. has been caught off guard by the speed of the Taliban’s advance across Afghanistan as American forces withdraw
• Americans with weakened immune systems will be allowed to get three shots of a Covid-19 vaccine after U.S. regulators authorized giving an extra dose to the most vulnerable people
• A Covid outbreak that has partially shut one of the world’s busiest container ports is heightening concerns that the rapid spread of the delta variant will lead to a repeat of last year’s shipping nightmares.
• U.K. wages are rising as companies scramble to recruit workers to help them recover after the last coronavirus restrictions eased in July, a survey showed.

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

Asia-Pac stocks traded mostly lower as the region largely shrugged off the mild positive lead from Wall Street, which saw the SPX notch new ATHs above the 4,450 mark (Russell 2000 closed with modest losses). The index was bolstered by the tech and growth sectors, while energy, industrials, and materials were the worst performers. Back to APAC, the ASX 200 (+0.5%) hit a fresh record high with financials leading the gains and offsetting losses in the mining sector. The Nikkei 225 (+0.1%) was indecisive on either side of the 28k mark throughout the night, whilst the KOSPI (-1.2%) underperformed as the nation faces threats from rising COVID cases – which triggered a weekend stay-at-home order – alongside tough rhetoric from nuclear-savvy North Korea. Elsewhere, the Hang Seng (-0.5%) solidified a downside bias as the region tackles crackdown jitters, with Hong Kong extending on losses throughout the session with Alibaba and Tencent posting losses of 3% apiece. The Shanghai Comp (-0.3%) meanwhile was choppy but traded in the red for the most part as Mainland China faces rising COVID cases which in turn is expected to slow growth momentum.

Top Asian News

• Hong Kong Raises 2021 Growth Forecast as Virus Concerns Ease
• Home Prices in World’s Most Expensive Market Break Record
• Japan Confronts Lockdown Taboo With Virus at ‘Disaster Level’
• Gold Heads for Second Weekly Loss With Taper Talk in Focus

European equities (Eurostoxx 50 +0.2%) trade with little in the way of firm direction as macro newsflow remains light and markets remain in “holiday mode”. The Stoxx 600 is on course to finish the week with gains of around 1% having printed several record highs along the way and extending its rally seen since the start of the month. Overnight, Asia-Pacific trade was predominantly softer with underperformance in Chinese bourses alongside a backdrop of increased regulation and mounting COVID concerns. Stateside, futures are little changed with some minor underperformance in the RTY (-0.1%) relative to the ES (+0.1%) with the latter currently at record highs. Commentary from JP Morgan notes that “the trends in prospective EPS growth forecasts, seasonality in earnings expectations, and recent changes in sector EPS revisions, all suggest a more cautious approach may be warranted”. JP Morgan goes on to state that it believes “there are increasing opportunities to support Staples and Health Care as we progress through H2”. Sectoral performance in Europe is relatively mixed and narrow in terms of breadth as Travel & Leisure and Retail names lead, whilst Tech and Basic Resources lag. In terms of stock specifics, Adidas (+2.1%) sits at the top of the DAX following the sale of Reebok to Authentic Brands for EUR 2.1bln. GEA Group (+3.1%) sits near the top of the Stoxx 600 after announcing a EUR 300mln share buyback programme. To the downside, Ipsen (-11.7%) is the clear laggard after announcing that, following FDA discussions it has withdrawn the NDA for palovarotene.

Top European News

• EU Gas Slips as Traders Weigh Virus Risks Against Supply Woes
• Gold Heads for Second Weekly Loss With Taper Talk in Focus
• Merkel’s Would-Be Successor Seeks Some of Musk‘s Star Power
• European Stocks Get Largest Inflows in Eight Weeks, BofA Says

In FX, it’s been a particularly quiet start for trade in the FX space with the DXY confined to particularly tight parameters around the 93.00 mark (range of 92.913-93.012). If the index manages to stage a more meaningful breach of 93.00 to the upside, this will bring yesterday’s high of 93.037 into play with this week’s peak of 93.195 thereafter. Beyond that an approach of the 31st March YTD high of 93.439 could be a tall order with a particularly barren data docket asides from the prelim. Uni. Of Michigan release at 15:00BST. Prelim. data for August is expected to show a pick-up for headline consumer sentiment, to 82.0 from 81.2. The inflation components will also by eyed by market participants in the context of this week’s CPI and PPI metrics in which, the former calmed ‘runaway inflation’ fears and emboldened those who argued that inflation is of a transitory nature. All else equal, markets continue to remain fixated on the Jackson Hole Symposium at the end of the month.

• EUR/GBP – EUR has managed to eke out gains against the USD and is currently straddling the 1.1750 mark. Fundamental catalysts are very much lacking and therefore a retake of the 1.18 handle does not look on the cards with the pair still unable to claw back losses seen in the wake of last Friday’s US jobs report. That said, EUR bulls will take some solace from the fact that EUR/USD just about managed to avoid slipping below its YTD low at 1.1702 with this week’s trough for the pair standing at 1.1704. If EUR/USD does make its way on to a 1.16 handle, potential support could be provided at 1.1694 which marks the 38.2% Fib of the 2020-21 move. For EUR/GBP, focus is on the 0.85 mark with the cross recently breaching this level. If the cross is able to pick up further traction to the upside, technicians eye the 21 DMA (0.8530), 50 DMA (0.8554), and 100 DMA (0.8590). GBP is marginally softer vs. the USD with support at 1.38 giving way in recent trade.
• JPY/AUD/NZD – Price action for other majors against the USD is near-enough non-existent. The JPY is faring mildly better than most peers and sub-110.50 vs. the greenback after peaking at 110.79 on Wednesday. If the pair continues to head south, this could bring Monday’s low into play at 110.01, which of course rests just above the psychological 110.00 mark. If this level does give way, technicians note the 21 DMA at 109.97 and 100 DMA at 109.69. From a fundamental perspective, news that Tokyo’s COVID cases have surpassed the previous record of 5,042 has done very little to sway prices. Antipodeans are eking minor gains vs. the USD with AUD/USD on track to see the week out pretty much where it started. Given the COVID situation in the nation which has seen increasing restrictions and record cases in many regions, this is arguably somewhat impressive with the pair able to recover from its 0.7314 low set on Tuesday. Across the Tasman, NZD/USD has fluctuated on either side of the 0.7000 mark – sandwiched between its 50 and 21 DMAs at 0.7022 and 0.6990 respectively and looking ahead to next week’s RBNZ policy announcement, which is expected to mark the first G10 central bank interest rate hike since the pandemic.

In commodities, a slightly choppy European morning for the crude benchmarks as they struggle to settle on a clear direction in an absence of specific, or even macro, newsflow. As it stands, WTI and Brent are near the unchanged mark for today but are set to conclude the week with gains of around USD 1/bbl from Monday’s sub-USD 68/bbl open in WTI, for instance. Attention resides firmly on the geopolitical front in Afghanistan as the Taliban continue to capture more territory, including the 2nd largest city of Kandahar. Though this is not, currently, dictating price action. Elsewhere, OPEC related updates after the US’ call to ramp up production have been minimal; but, on this, Goldman Sachs writes that this call is unlikely to materialise given the COVID-19 Delta variant, among other factors. The session ahead has little explicitly for the complex, aside from weekly rig count data via Baker Hughes – last week’s total print was +3 at 491. For metals, spot gold and silver are similarly contained though have a mild upward-bias benefitting from a softer USD and lower rates. Elsewhere, copper is firmer but again around familiar levels as we await confirmation of sources that BHP and Escondida, Chile workers have agreed on a new contract.

US Event Calendar

• 8:30am: July Import Price Index YoY, est. 10.5%, prior 11.2%; Import Price Index MoM, est. 0.6%, prior 1.0%
• 8:30am: July Export Price Index YoY, prior 16.8%; Export Price Index MoM, est. 0.8%, prior 1.2%
• 10am: Aug. U. of Mich. Current Conditions, est. 82.0, prior 84.5; Sentiment, est. 81.2, prior 81.2; Expectations, est. 77.5, prior 79.0
• 10am: Aug. U. of Mich. 1 Yr Inflation, est. 4.6%, prior 4.7%; 5-10 Yr Inflation, prior 2.8%

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Well that’s me checking out for a couple of weeks after today. I shall be spending half the time upside down on rollercoasters feeling ill and the other half shouting at children. However tonight I’ll be negotiating how many rounds of golf I’ll be allowed to play over the break and what it’ll cost me. The children have been absolute horrors this summer holiday and being at work has shielded me from most of it so now for two weeks of stress, anger and extreme tiredness. Any glimpses of joy will be an unexpected bonus. I suspect I’ll be pining for my return to work so I can have a break. See you on the other side. Henry and Karthik will be minding the fort while I’m away.

Ahead of my holiday I’ve been pretty busy trying to put the finishing touches to my annual long term study over the last couple of weeks. It will be out in early September. This year’s study marks the fiftieth anniversary of fiat money and speculates as to whether this money system can survive. On this, the actual 50th anniversary of President Nixon suspending the convertibility of the dollar into gold and ushering in the fiat era will be marked this Sunday. So you may see a bit of press coverage here. I’ll be releasing a small single off the long-term study album in my CoTD today so watch out for that later.

Equity markets continued to grind higher yesterday and yet again hit fresh record highs in many markets even if Asian bourses continue to struggle a bit overnight. The S&P 500 rose +0.30% having traded in an average daily range of roughly 0.5% this month, which would be the lowest average monthly range since November 2019 if sustained. The S&P actually saw a majority of its constituents fall back yesterday, with only 46% advancing. Growth stocks in particular were better off yesterday with tech hardware (+1.64%), biotech (+0.96%), and software (+0.58%) firm as the reopening trade took a breather after outperforming during the early part of the week. In Europe the STOXX 600 recorded yet another all-time high – its ninth in a row – as the index rose +0.11%. However unlike the US, a majority (+55.5%) of stocks in the index rose, with cyclicals such as autos (+1.22%), retail (+0.65%) and construction (+0.53%) among the best performers.

Following the previous day’s ever-so-slightly tamer consumer prices print, yesterday’s US producer prices surprised to the upside highlighting the ongoing inflationary pressures from ever-rising commodity costs and supply chain bottlenecks. US July PPI showed prices rose +1.0% last month (+0.6% expected), and +7.8% y/y (+7.2% expected), with core PPI rising an identical +1.0% m/m and up +6.2% y/y. The services portion of the measure rose 1.1% as the increase in final demand services was fairly broad and included stronger margins at wholesalers and retailers.

While inflation has been the overarching theme this week, US jobless data from yesterday highlighted the improving employment backdrop as well. Jobless claims for the week through August 7 were in line with expectations at 375k. That’s a -12k decrease from the previous week, and the fourth weekly decline in the last five weeks. Also notably, continuing claims through July 31 fell to 2.866m (2.9m expected) from 2.98m the previous week. As of this week, around half of US state governors have now ended the supplemental pandemic unemployment benefit program before they were set to expire next month.

The data saw US 10yr Treasury yields continue to rise, with yields increasing +2.9bps to 1.359% – roughly where they were a month ago before a 20 plus bps rally into early August. It was the sixth daily rise in yields in the last seven sessions and was driven by both rising inflation expectations (+1.5bps) and real yields (+1.3bps). Meanwhile the US Treasury ended a busy week of auctions yesterday with a $27bn sale of 30-year bonds at a high yield of 2.0335%, this was +4bps more than its sale back in 13 July. On the day they finished flat at 2.000%. European sovereign bonds outperformed their US counterpart with 10yr bunds nearly unchanged (+0.4bps) at -0.46% and Southern European bond yields lower. Notably Italian (-2.3bps), Portuguese (-1.9bps), Spanish (-1.5bps), and Greek (-1.0bps) all saw their 10yr bond yields drop.

On the other hand, UK 10yr gilts saw higher yields yesterday, with yields increasing +3.0bps to 0.601%, following the latest GDP data. The UK economy grew +4.8% in Q2, according to yesterday’s preliminary reading, which was right in line with expectations. The increase was driven largely by household consumption and government spending, and falls just short of the BoE’s August MPR expectations of +5.0%. With restrictions being eased over the last quarter there was no surprise that consumer spending led a large portion of the print, but specifically private consumption contributed 4.2ppt.

Asian markets are trading weaker overnight with the Hang Seng (-0.70%), CSI (-0.64%), Shanghai Comp (-0.25%) and Kospi (-1.44%) all down. Looking at the sectoral performance, technology stocks are leading the declines with the Hang Seng tech index down as much as -2.08%. There is no particular new news but it seems that the old cocktail of the spread of the delta variant, the regions’ low vaccination rate and China’s ongoing regulatory crackdown is dampening sentiment. The Nikkei is trading broadly flat. Away from that, futures on the S&P 500 (-0.1%) are flattish while yields on 10y USTs are down -1.1bps to 1.350%. Our Chinese economists have downgraded their growth forecasts overnight. See their piece here.

On the pandemic, China partly shut down the third busiest port in the world yesterday due to an infected worker. All container services at Meishan terminal in Ningbo-Zhoushan port have been halted until further notice. This follows the Yantian port in Shenzhen being closed in late May for about a month, following a similar case there. The pandemic continues to worsen in Australia, with some government officials asking for a tighter lockdown of Sydney, where there have already been loose curbs for 2 months, but cases rose from 12 per day to roughly 350 per day this week. Over in the US, nationwide positive-test rates declined over the last week in the first sign that the delta outbreak might be subsiding. The nationwide rate, through this Monday, was at 9.5% after hitting 10.2% in the previous week,while the rate of increase in hospital admissions might be plateauing as well, with a 31.3% increase last week being largely in line with the 31.1% increase from the week before. Separately, the US FDA has approved booster shots of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for immunocompromised individuals and said in a statement that other fully vaccinated individuals do not need an additional vaccine dose right now. On a related theme, Moderna’s long term study of its vaccine has shown nearly identical effectiveness after 6 months as was originally seen (93% vs 94%).

To the day ahead now and investors will get France’s Q2 unemployment rate and final July CPI, as well as Euro Area June trade balance. From the US, there is the latest import price index reading and the preliminary reading of the August University of Michigan sentiment survey. Watch out for inflation expectations within the report.