Dear Reader,

Today's overview of economic news and market action: 

• Yesterday’s Conference Board measure of US consumer confidence added to succession of recent macro and corporate earnings data indicating softer activity levels of late.
• The Euro Stoxx 50 was also lower on day, by about 0.1%, with a sharper fall in equity markets on the other side of the Atlantic, with the S&P 500 falling 0.5%
• The euro traded to its recent resistance level of $1.052 before easing back to $1.05 this morning, more range-bound against sterling, trading at the top end of the 82-83p range.
• The biggest moves have been on bond and money markets, with US rates c.20 bps softer over the past month, as investors price in potentially weaker growth.
• Data-wise, German consumer confidence was weaker than expected in the early release, while French consumer confidence is released later this morning.

All rates quoted are indicative market rates.