Today's news headlines: 

‘Hancock says jabs prevent almost all Delta variant cases from needing hospital care’. Of the cases recorded of the Delta variant in the UK up to 3^rd June, 83 of the 126 patients in hospital were unvaccinated. Two doses currently prevent hospitalisations by around 95% according to recent studies, indicating that the vaccines are working. Keeping hospitalisations low is the key, in the governments eyes, to ensuring that the planned easing of restrictions on June 21^st can still go ahead. (Financial Times)

‘Taiwan Covid-19 outbreak spreads to chip companies’. With supply already strained, chip manufacturers in Taiwan are now facing the prospect of halting production until a fresh wave of coronavirus cases subsides. KYEC and Foxsemicon have decided to close factories and conduct mass testing of employees. It is expected the production facilities will be offline for at least two days if infection rates do not spike heavily, which has the potential of causing more delays and adding further pressure to the car and consumer electronics industries. (Financial Times)

Today's events, rates, and data 

• Markets were mixed yesterday, with the S&P 500 falling 0.08% while the FTSE 100 gained 0.12%. Major currencies are relatively flat this morning with Cable trading around the $1.4150 level and EUR/USD holding just below $1.2180.

Today's events

UK BRC Retail Sales Monitor y/y: 18.5% vs 39.6% last month
Japan final GDP q/q: -1.0% vs -1.3% previously
German Industrial Production m/m: -1.0% vs 2.2% last month
Eurozone ZEW Economic Sentiment: 10:00am
US NFIB Small Business Index: 11:00am
MPC Member Andy Haldane Speaks: 2:00pm

Interbank rates

GBP/USD: 1.4156
GBP/EUR: 1.1628
EUR/USD: 1.2179
USD/CAD: 1.2082

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