Improving eurozone hard data and a stable ECB mean the EUR swap curve should steepen from here. The complexity of estimating Dutch pension reform flows doesn't help the case for a steeper 10s30s. In the US, Treasuries are trading heavily in post-FOMC, and look like they can attempt to continue to do so
US rates are finding bullish signals in second-tier data as the US government shutdown continues. The second-largest Dutch pension fund is showing confidence about its transition date of 1 January 2026, which should help support the 10s30s steepening. Approval from the regulator, however, has not been explicitly communicated yet
Having enjoyed a brief session on Friday of unalloyed joy as Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted at a September rate cut, financial markets may now face some uncertainty on political developments in France and the US. We're still happy with a bearish story for the dollar, but it might have to be the more defensive Japanese yen or Swiss franc which takes the lead now
Chair Powell could have been super balanced, or even hawkish. But he effectively chose to endorse the market discount for a rate-cutting phase ahead. It's had quite the reaction. Risk assets are up, the dollar down, so's the front-end yield. Watch longer tenor yields though - the deep thinkers of the bond market, and not quite convinced cuts are all good
This morning's US CPI report came almost exactly in line, and the fact that there wasn't much diversion from expectations led to traders decidedly pricing the 25 bps Cut for the Federal Reserve's September meeting.
Yesterday, US inflation data was mixed, but the market reaction was not. Core inflation in the US posted its strongest gains this year, and the yearly figure accelerated more than expected to 3.1% in July.
