Friday 22nd July 2022As we predicted the ECB lifted interest rates by 50 basis points yesterday, up to zero percent. NAB’s Ken Crompton says this was more than markets had expected and explains there was a short-lived reaction on the bond markets. There was also disappointment in the central bank’s anti-fragmentation tool, which now has a name and a new acronym! Right now it’s light on detail and will countries like Italy be able to meet the criteria being set for its use, even though, with rising spreads with German bunds, they are the ones who really need it. In the US weaker jobs claims gave job that the labour market might be easing. Coupled with weaker than expected manufacturing data, there’s always the hope that the Fed won’t need to be so aggressive. PMI data today will give a further indication of how services and manufacturing are travelling, in the US, UK and Europe.
