Russell Shor

The 10-year real yield and dollar were showing signs of moderation earlier today. However, both instruments’ trend-following indicators have now crossed up.

Microsoft presented a fresh proposal regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This move comes as a response to the initial proposition being turned down by regulatory authorities in the United Kingdom. The new deal includes a series of compromises and accommodations.

The 2-year yield serves as a good general proxy for monetary policy direction. The top chart shows the German 2-year yield, representing European monetary policy, and the chart underneath is the US 2-year yield. Since mid-July, the German 2-year has been trending down and the US 2-year has been trending up.

The 10-year real yield, adjusted for inflation, continues to climb. It is trading close to 2% at 1.96%. The last time real yields were at these levels was back in June 2009. This post-inflation yield will be appealing to a significant number of investors, adding increased rivalry for stocks, particularly stocks with elevated valuations. The daily candles in Chart 1 show that the 10-year real yield has charted a higher…

The Peoples Bank of China has stepped up efforts to defend the renminbi. The Chinese currency has been declining off the back of poor economic data and woes in its property sector. This includes a weakening in exports and fragile consumer confidence.

The Federal Open Market Committee minutes for the July meeting were released yesterday and indicate that officials are still concerned about inflation. The minutes read that “most participants continued to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy.”

A big Chinese trust company, Zhongrong International Trust Co., is causing concerns because they have not been making payments on their investments lately. This company is typically involved in real estate and has been having trouble with payments on many of their investment products. This, along with home prices going down, is making people worried that the ongoing property crisis in China is making the economy's slow growth even worse.

UK headline CPI came in at 6.8% y/y, which was lower than the previous print of 7.9% y/y. However, core CPI is 6.9% y/y, the same as the prior month. Inflation is down from current cycle highs but is still far above the Bank of England’s (BoE) target of 2%.

Real yields have an effect on the USDOLLAR, Gold and Risk Indexes.

The UK’s average earnings index 3m/y (including bonuses) printed at 8.2%. This is higher than the previous 7.2% and higher than the forecast of 7.3%. In fact, regular pay grew by 7.8%, which is the highest rate since records began in 2001. This suggests another rate hike by the BoE in September is a distinct possibility.

China unexpectedly cut the medium-term lending facility (MLF) by 15bps to 2.5%. This is the biggest cut since 2020. This action is to provide support to an economy that is currently grappling with renewed challenges stemming from a deteriorating property market and sluggish consumer expenditure.