Dear Reader,

Here is an overview of today's economic news and market action:

• Cautious mood on markets persisted yesterday …
• Currency-wise, the main pairs remained confined to tight ranges …
• Sees EUR/USD open this morning at the midpoint of $1.09-1.10 …
• EUR/GBP is in the lower half of 88-89p …
• GBP/USD remains between $1.24-1.25 …
• Later today, the flash PMIs for April in the US, Eurozone and UK are due …

A Cautionary Tale

The latest quarterly update from the IMF on the outlook for the world economy published last week saw little change to its forecasts from those issued in January and last October.

Storm Clouds Gathering

• The latest quarterly update from the IMF on the outlook for the world economy published last Tuesday saw little change to its forecasts from those issued in January and last October.

• Economic data have generally surprised to the upside in first quarter, helped by easing inflation. However, possible credit crunch and tighter lending standards new risk to activity