Today's news headlines:

‘UK inflation at new 40-year high worsens living standards crisis’. UK inflation hit 9.4% in June, beating analysts’ estimates of 9.3% and marking the largest increase since 1982. Wages are struggling to keep pace with rising prices, and with inflation forecast to reach 11% in October, conditions are unlikely to improve. This is creating further fears that a recession is more likely as consumers tighten their purse strings. The Bank of England has hinted that a 50 basis-point interest rate hike is a possibility at its next meeting as the central bank attempts to reign in surging prices. (Bloomberg)

‘Putin signals gas pipeline will restart, but with conditions’. Gas flows from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline are scheduled to re-commence on Thursday, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. There could be some caveats to the restart; some expect the pipeline to operate at 20% capacity, just half of the gas flowing before the planned maintenance. European government officials fear this saga of interruptions is not yet over as some expect Gazprom to begin disrupting supplies heading into the winter. (Bloomberg)   

Today

Asian markets rallied overnight as investors turn more optimistic that China’s technology sector could be over the worst of regulatory crackdowns. US equity futures point higher while the US Dollar weakens this morning.

Events

UK Consumer Price Index YoY (June): 9.4% (est. 9.3%)
UK CPI MoM (June): 0.8% (est. 0.7%)
Canadian CPI MoM (June): 1:30PM
Eurozone Consumer Confidence (June): 3:00PM
US Existing Home Sales (June): 3:00PM

Interbank rates:

GBP/USD – 1.2024
GBP/EUR – 1.1710
EUR/USD – 1.0268
USD/CAD – 1.2864

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