Today's news headlines: 

‘Omicron threatens to stoke US inflation, warns top Fed official’. President of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Loretta Mester expects the emergence of the Omicron variant to place greater pressure on supply chains while negatively impacting the labour market. However, not a lot is known about the variant, with governments and markets still waiting on new data to emerge on its transmissibility. Mester believes the economy is more resilient to new variants and expects the current course of inflation to continue. She joined Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in supporting a faster taper while also hinting at the possibility of two rate hikes next year. (Financial Times)

‘UK watchdog attacks “inadequate” effort to tackle Covid loan fraud’. The National Audit Office has been a heavy critic of the UK government’s loose policy surrounding the Covid-19 bounce back loan scheme, with an estimated £5bn still unpaid. The loans needed to be quickly distributed at the start of the pandemic to prevent businesses from failing, but the lack of verification and credit checks opened the floodgates to fraud. The NAO is able to pursue 50 loan fraud cases a year, and around 2,100 cases are outstanding as of October 2021. (Financial Times)

Today

US markets rebounded yesterday, with the S&P 500 adding 1.42% and the Dow Jones rising 1.82%. WTI is trading at the $68 handle this morning after finding support at $65 per barrel. The US Dollar Index is tracking higher in early trade, with the currency back above the $96 level ahead of Non-Farm Payrolls later today.

Events

China Caixin Services Purchasing Managers’ Index: 52.1 vs 53.8 last month
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde speaks: 8:30AM
Monetary Policy Committee member Michael Saunders speaks: 11:00AM
Canada Employment Change: 1:30PM
Canada Unemployment Rate: 1:30PM
US Non-Farm Payrolls: 1:30PM
US Unemployment Rate: 1:30PM
US Average Hourly Earnings: 1:30PM
US ISM Services PMI: 3:00PM

Interbank rates:

GBP/USD – 1.3274
GBP/EUR – 1.1755
EUR/USD – 1.1291
USD/CAD – 1.2816

The markets are moving. To speak to our team, please call +44 (0)20 3465 8200.