Futures Jump After China Cuts Main Lending Rate By Most On Record But $1.9 Trillion Op-Ex Looms…

After months of endless jawboning and almost no action, overnight China finally cut its main mortgage interest rate by the most on record since the rate was introduced in 2019, as it tries to reduce the economic impact of Covid lockdowns and a property sector slowdown. The five-year loan prime rate was lowered from 4.6% to 4.45% on Friday (even as the 1 Year LPR was unchanged at 3.70%) . The reduction in the rate, which is set by a committee of banks and published by the People’s Bank of China, will directly reduce the borrowing costs on outstanding mortgages across the country (the move wasn’t much of a shock as the central bank had kept the 1-Year MLF Rate unchanged earlier in the week and effectively cut interest rates for first-time homebuyers by 20bps on Sunday).

The rate cut was long overdue for China’s property market which has experienced 8 straight months of home-price reductions with developers under extreme pressure. There was more bad news for China’s embattled tech sector as Canada banned Huawei Technologies and ZTE equipment from use in its 5G network.

The good news is that China’s easing helped push Asian stocks higher, while European markets and US stock index futures also rose on Friday as buyers returned after a selloff fueled by recession fears saw the underlying S&P 500 lose more than $1 trillion in market value this week. Contracts on the S&P 500 advanced 1.1% as of 7:15a.m. in New York suggesting the index may be able to avoid entering a bear market (which would be triggered by spoos sliding below 3,855) at least for now, although today’s $1.9 trillion Option Expiration will likely lead to substantial volatility, potentially to the downside. 

Even with a solid jump today, should it not reverse as most ramps in recent days, the index – which is down almost 19% from its January record – is on track for a seventh week of losses, the longest such streak since March 2001. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones indexes also gained. 10Y TSY yields rebounded from yesterday’s tumble while the dollar was modestly lower. Gold and bitcoin were flat.

In premarket trading, shares of gigacap tech giants rose, poised to recover some of the losses they incurred this week. Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 1.7%. The tech heavy benchmark has wiped out about $1.3 trillion in market value this month. Apple (AAPL US) is up 1.3% in premarket trading on Friday, Tesla (TSLA US) +2.6%.Palo Alto Networks jumped after topping estimates. Continuing the retail rout, Ross Stores cratered after the discount retailer cut its full-year outlook and first quarter results fell short of expectations. Here are some other notable premarket movers:

• Chinese stocks in US look set to extend this week’s gains on Friday after Chinese banks cut the five-year loan prime rate by a record amount, an effort to boost mortgage and loan demand in an economy hampered by Covid lockdowns. Alibaba (BABA US) +2.6%, Baidu (BIDU US) +1.1%, JD.com (JD US) +2.6%.
• Palo Alto Networks (PANW US) rises 11% in premarket trading on Friday after forecasting adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter that exceeded the average of analysts’ estimates.
• Applied Materials (AMAT US) falls 2.1% in premarket trading after its second-quarter results missed expectations as persistent chip shortages weighed on the outlook. However, Cowen analyst Krish Sankar notes that “while the macro/consumer data points have weakened, semicap demand is still healthy.”
• Ross Stores Inc. (ROST US) shares sank 28% in US premarket trade on Friday after the discount retailer cut its full-year outlook and 1Q results fell short of expectations, prompting analysts to slash their price targets.
• Foghorn Therapeutics (FHTX US) shares plunged 26% in postmarket trading after the company said the FDA has placed the phase 1 dose escalation study of FHD-286 in relapsed and/or refractory acute myelogenous leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome on a partial clinical hold.
• Wix.com (WIX US) cut to equal-weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley as investors are unlikely to “give credit to a show-me story” in the current context which limits upside catalysts in the near term, according to note.
• Deckers Outdoor (DECK US) jumped 13% in US postmarket trading on Thursday after providing a year sales outlook range with a midpoint that beat the average consensus estimate.
• VF Corp’s (VFC US) reported mixed results, with analysts noting the positive performance of the company’s North Face brand, though revenues did miss estimates amid a tricky macro backdrop. The outdoor retailer’s shares rose 2.2% in US postmarket trading on Thursday.

“The ‘risk-on’ trading mood has registered a solid rebound during the last couple of hours as traders cheered the significantly dovish monetary decision from China after the PBoC cut one of the key interest rates by a record amount,” said Pierre Veyret, a technical analyst at ActivTrades. “This will provide a fresh boost to the economy, helping small businesses and mitigate the negative impacts of lockdowns in the world’s second-largest economy.”

Still, the broader market will have to fend off potential risks from options expiration, which is notorious for stirring up volatility. Traders will close old positions for an estimated $1.9 trillion of derivatives while rolling out new exposures on Friday. This time round, $460 billion of derivatives across single stocks is scheduled to expire, and $855 billion of S&P 500-linked contracts will expire according to Goldman.

Rebounds in risk sentiment have tended to fizzle this year. Investors continue to grapple with concerns about an economic downturn, in part as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates to quell price pressures. Global shares are on course for an historic seventh week of declines.

“The risk-on trading mood has registered a solid rebound during the last couple of hours as traders cheered the significantly dovish monetary decision from China,” said Pierre Veyret, an analyst at ActivTrades. “This move significantly contrasts with the lingering inflation and recession risks in Western economies, where an increasing number of market operators and analysts are questioning the policies of central banks.”

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index added 1.5%, erasing the week’s losses. The French CAC 40 lags, rising 0.9%. Autos, travel and miners are the strongest-performing sectors, rebounding after two days of declines. Basic resources outperformed as industrial metals rallied. Consumer products was the only sector in the red as Richemont slumped after the Swiss watch and jewelry maker reported operating profit for the full year that missed the average analyst estimate and its Chairman Johann Rupert said China is going to take an economic blow and warned the Chinese economy will suffer for longer than people think. The miss sent luxury stocks plunging: Richemont -11%, Swatch -3.8%, Hermes -3.2%, LVMH -1.9%, Kering -1.7%, Hugo Boss -1.7%, etc. These are the biggest European movers:

• Rockwool rises as much as 10% as the market continued to digest the company’s latest earnings report, which triggered a surge in the shares, with SocGen and BNP Paribas upgrading the stock.
• Valeo and other European auto stocks outperformed, rebounding after two days of losses. Citi says Valeo management confirmed that auto production troughed in April and activity is improving.
• Sinch gained as much as 5.4% after Berenberg said peer’s quarterly results confirmed the cloud communications company’s strong positioning in a fast-growing market.
• Lonza shares gain as much as 4.1% after the pharmaceutical ingredients maker was raised to outperform at RBC, with the broker bullish on the long-term demand dynamics for the firm.
• THG shares surge as much as 32% as British entrepreneur Nick Candy considers an offer to acquire the UK online retailer, while the company separately announced it rejected a rival bid.
• Maersk shares rise as much as 4.6%, snapping two days of declines, as global container rates advance according to Fearnley Securities which says 2H “looks increasingly promising.”
• PostNL shares jump as much as 8.2% after the announcement that Vesa will acquire sole control of the Dutch postal operator. Analysts say reaction in the shares is overdone.
• Dermapharm shares gain as much as 6.1%, the most since March 22, with Stifel saying the pharmaceuticals maker is “significantly undervalued” and have solid growth drivers.
• Richemont shares tumble as much as 14%, the most in more than two years, after the luxury retailer’s FY Ebit was a “clear miss,” with cost increases in operating expenses. Luxury peers were pulled lower alongside Richemont after the company’s disappointing earnings report, in which its CEO also flagged the Chinese market will lag for longer than people assume.
• Instone Real Estate shares drop as much as 12% as the stock is downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank, with the broker cutting its earnings estimates for the property developer

Earlier in the session, Asia-Pac stocks picked themselves up from recent losses as risk sentiment improved from the choppy US mood. ASX 200 gained with outperformance in tech and mining stocks leading the broad gains across industries. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp strengthened with a rebound in tech setting the pace in Hong Kong and with the mainland also lifted following the PBoC’s Loan Prime Rate announcement in which it defied the consensus by maintaining the 1-Year LPR at 3.70% but cut the 5-Year LPR by 15bps to 4.45%, which is the reference for mortgages. Nonetheless, this wasn’t much of a shock as the central bank had kept the 1-Year MLF Rate unchanged earlier in the week and effectively cut interest rates for first-time homebuyers by 20bps on Sunday.

Japanese stocks regain footing in the wake of Thursday’s selloff, after Chinese banks cut a key interest rate for long-term loans by a record amount. The Topix rose 0.9% to 1,877.37 at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo, while the Nikkei 225 advanced 1.3% to 26,739.03. Toyota Motor Corp. contributed the most to the Topix’s gain, increasing 2.1%. Out of 2,171 shares in the index, 1,511 rose and 567 fell, while 93 were unchanged.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.2% to close at 7,145.60 on the eve of Australia’s national election. Technology shares and miners led sector gains. Chalice Mining climbed after getting approvals for further exploration drilling at the Hartog-Dampier targets within its Julimar project. Novonix advanced with other lithium-related shares after IGO announced its first and consistent production of battery grade lithium hydroxide from Kwinana. In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.5% to 11,267.39

India’s benchmark stocks index rebounded from a 10-month low and completed its first weekly gain in six, boosted by an advance in Reliance Industries.  The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 2.9% to 54,326.39 in Mumbai. The NSE Nifty 50 Index also rose by a similar magnitude on Friday. Stocks across Asia advanced after Chinese banks lowered a key interest rates for long-term loans.   Reliance Industries climbed 5.8%, the largest advance since Nov. 25, and gave the biggest boost to the Sensex, which had all 30 member stocks trading higher. All 19 sector indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, led by a gauge of realty stocks.  “Stocks in Asia and US futures pushed higher today amid a bout of relative calm in markets, though worries about a darkening economic outlook and China’s Covid struggles could yet stoke more volatility,” according to a note from SMC Global Securities Ltd.  In earnings, of the 36 Nifty 50 firms that have announced results so far, 21 have either met or exceeded analyst estimates, while 15 have missed forecasts.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index inched higher as the greenback traded mixed against its Group-of-10 peers. Treasuries fell modestly, with yields rising 1-2bps. The euro weakened after failing to hold on to yesterday’s gains that pushed it above $1.06 for the first time in more than two weeks. Inversion returns for the term structures in the yen and the pound, yet for the euro it’s all about the next meetings by the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve. The pound rose to a session high at the London open, coinciding with data showing UK retail sales rose more than forecast in April. Retail sales was up 1.4% m/m in April, vs est. -0.3%. Other showed a plunge in consumer confidence to the lowest in at least 48 years. The Swiss franc halted a three-day advance that had taken it to the strongest level against the greenback this month. Australia’s sovereign bonds held opening gains before a federal election Saturday amid fears of a hung parliament, which could stifle infrastructure spending. The Australian and New Zealand dollar reversed earlier losses. The offshore yuan and South Korean won paced gains in emerging Asian currencies as a rally in regional equities bolstered risk appetite.

In rates, Treasuries were slightly cheaper as S&P 500 futures advanced. Yields were higher by 2bp-3bp across the Treasuries curve with 10- year around 2.865%, outperforming bunds and gilts by 1.7bp and 3.5bp on the day; curves spreads remain within 1bp of Thursday’s closing levels. Bunds and Italian bonds fell, underperforming Treasuries, as haven trades were unwound. US session has no Fed speakers or economic data slated. UK gilts 2s10s resume bear-flattening, underperforming Treasuries, after BOE’s Pill said tightening has more to run. Gilts 10y yields regain 1.90%. Bund yield curve-bear steepens. long end trades heavy with 30y yield ~6bps cheaper. Peripheral spreads widen to core with 5y Italy underperforming. Semi-core spreads tighten a touch.

In commodities, WTI trades within Thursday’s range, falling 0.5% to around $111. Most base metals trade in the green; LME lead rises 2.6%, outperforming peers. LME nickel lags, dropping 1.5%. Spot gold is little changed at $1,844/oz. KEY HEADLINES:

Looking at the day ahead, there is no macro news in the US. Central bank speakers include the ECB’s Müller, Kazāks, Šimkus, Centeno and De Cos, along with the BoE’s Pill. Finally, earnings releases include Deere & Company.

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures up 1.1% to 3,940.00
• STOXX Europe 600 up 1.2% to 433.00
• MXAP up 1.6% to 164.68
• MXAPJ up 2.1% to 539.85
• Nikkei up 1.3% to 26,739.03
• Topix up 0.9% to 1,877.37
• Hang Seng Index up 3.0% to 20,717.24
• Shanghai Composite up 1.6% to 3,146.57
• Sensex up 2.5% to 54,115.12
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 1.1% to 7,145.64
• Kospi up 1.8% to 2,639.29
• German 10Y yield little changed at 0.97%
• Euro down 0.2% to $1.0567
• Gold spot up 0.2% to $1,845.64
• U.S. Dollar Index up 0.25% to 102.98
• Brent Futures down 0.4% to $111.55/bbl

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

• BOE Chief Economist Huw Pill said monetary tightening has further to run in the UK because the balance of risks is tilted toward inflation surprising on the upside
• ECB Governing Council Member Visco says a June hike is ‘certainly’ out of the question while July is ‘perhaps’ the time to start rate hikes
• China’s plans to bolster growth as Covid outbreaks and lockdowns crush activity will see a whopping $5.3 trillion pumped into its economy this year
• Chinese banks cut a key interest rate for long- term loans by a record amount, a move that would reduce mortgage costs and may help counter weak loan demand caused by a property slump and Covid lockdowns
• China’s almost-trillion dollar hedge fund industry risks worsening the turmoil in its stock market as deepening portfolio losses trigger forced selling by some managers. About 2,350 stock-related hedge funds last month dropped below a threshold that typically activates clauses requiring them to slash exposures, with many headed toward a level that mandates liquidation
• Investors fled every major asset class in the past week, with US equities and Treasuries a rare exception to massive redemptions
• Ukraine’s central bank is considering a return to regular monetary policy decisions as soon as next month in a sign the country is getting its financial system back on its feet after a shock from Russia’s invasion
• The Group of Seven industrialized nations will agree on more than 18 billion euros ($19 billion) in aid for Ukraine to guarantee the short-term finances of the government in Kyiv, according to German Finance Minister Christian Lindner
• The best may already be over for the almighty dollar as growing fears of a US recession bring down Treasury yields

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquqawk

Asia-Pac stocks picked themselves up from recent losses as risk sentiment improved from the choppy US mood.  ASX 200 gained with outperformance in tech and mining stocks leading the broad gains across industries. Nikkei 225 was underpinned following the BoJ’s ETF purchases yesterday and despite multi-year high inflation. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp strengthened with a rebound in tech setting the pace in Hong Kong and with the mainland also lifted following the PBoC’s Loan Prime Rate announcement in which it defied the consensus by maintaining the 1-Year LPR at 3.70% but cut the 5-Year LPR by 15bps to 4.45%, which is the reference for mortgages. Nonetheless, this wasn’t much of a shock as the central bank had kept the 1-Year MLF Rate unchanged earlier in the week and effectively cut interest rates for first-time homebuyers by 20bps on Sunday.

Top Asian News

• Chinese Premier Li vows efforts to aid the resumption of production, via Xinhua; will continue to build itself into a large global market and a hot spot for foreign investment, via Reuters.
• US and Japanese leaders are to urge China to reduce its nuclear arsenal, according to Yomiuri. It was also reported that Japanese PM Kishida is expected to announce a defence budget increase during the summit with US President Biden, according to TV Asahi.
• Offshore Yuan Halts Selloff With Biggest Weekly Gain Since 2017
• Hong Kong Dollar Traders Brace for Rate Spike Amid Intervention
• Shanghai Factory Output Fell 20 Times Faster Than Rest of China
• Japan’s Inflation Tops 2%, Complicating BOJ Stimulus Message

European indices have started the week’s last trading day positively and have extended on gains in early trade. Swiss SMI (+0.5%) sees its upside capped by losses in Richemont which provided a downbeat China outlook. European sectors are almost wholly in the green with a clear pro-cyclical bias/anti-defensive bias – Healthcare, Personal & Consumer Goods, Telecoms, Food & Beverages all reside at the bottom of the chart, whilst Autos & Parts, Travel & Leisure and Retail lead the charge on the upside. US equity futures have also been trending higher since the reopening of futures trading overnight

Top European News

• Holcim, HeidelbergCement Said to Compete for Sika US Unit
• Prosus Looking to Sell $6 Billion Russian Ads Business Avito
• European Autos Outperform in Rebound, Driven by Valeo, Faurecia
• Volkswagen Pitted Against Organic Farmer in Climate Court Clash

FX

• DXY bound tightly to 103.000, but only really firm relative to Yen on renewed risk appetite.
• Yuan back to early May peaks after PBoC easing of 5 year LPR boosts risk sentiment – Usd/Cny and Usd/Cnh both sub-6.7000.
• Kiwi outperforms ahead of anticipated 50 bp RBNZ hike next week and with tailwind from Aussie cross pre-close call election result.
• Euro and Pound capped by resistance at round number levels irrespective of hawkish ECB commentary and surprisingly strong UK consumption data.
• Lira lurching after Turkish President Erdogan rejection of Swedish and Finnish NATO entry bids.
• Japanese PM Kishida says rapid FX moves are undesirable, via Nikkei interview; keeping close ties with overseas currency authorities, via Nikkei.

Fixed Income

• Debt futures reverse course amidst pre-weekend risk revival, partly prompted by PBoC LPR cut.
• Bunds hovering above 153.00, Gilts sub-119.50 and T-note just over 119-16.
• UK debt also taking on board surprisingly strong retail sales metrics and EZ bonds acknowledging more hawkish ECB rhetoric.

Commodities

• WTI and Brent July futures consolidate in early European trade in what has been another volatile week for the crude complex.
• Spot gold has been moving in tandem with the Buck and rose back above its 200 DMA
• Base metals are mostly firmer, with LME copper re-eyeing USD 9,500/t to the upside as the red metal is poised for its first weekly gain in seven weeks
• Russia’s Gazprom continues gas shipments to Europe via Ukraine, with Friday volume at 62.4mln cubic metres (prev. 63.3mbm)

Central Banks

• BoE Chief Economist Pill says inflation is the largest challenge faced by the MPC over the past 25 years. The MPC sees an upside skew in the risks around the inflation baseline in the latter part of the forecast period. Pill said further work needs to be done. “In my view, it would be preferable to have any such gilt sales running ‘in the background’, rather than being responsive to month-to-month data news.”, via the BoE.
• ECB’s Kazaks hopes the first ECB hike will happen in July, according to Bloomberg.
• ECB’s Muller says focus needs to be on fighting high inflation, according to Bloomberg.
• ECB’s Visco says the ECB can move out of negative rate territory; a June hike is “certainly” out of the question but July is perhaps the time to start
• Chinese Loan Prime Rate 1Y (May) 3.70% vs. Exp. 3.65% (Prev. 3.70%); Chinese Loan Prime Rate 5Y (May) 4.45% vs. Exp. 4.60% (Prev. 4.60%)
• Fed’s Kashkari (2023 voter) said they are removing accommodation even faster than they added it at the start of COVID and have done quite a bit to remove support for the economy through forward guidance. Kashkari stated that he does not know how high rates need to go to bring inflation down and does not know the odds of pulling off a soft-landing, while he is seeing some evidence they are in a longer-term high inflation regime and if so, the Fed may need to be more aggressive, according to Reuters

US Event Calendar

• Nothing major scheduled

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

The good thing about having all these injuries in recent years is that when it comes down to any father’s football matches or sport day races I now know that no amount of competitive juices make getting involved a good idea. However my wife has not had to learn her lesson yet and tomorrow plays her first netball match for 37 years in a parents vs schoolgirls match. The mums had a practise session on Tuesday and within 3 minutes one of them had snapped their ACL. I’ll be nervously watching from the sidelines.

Markets were also very nervous yesterday after a torrid day for risk sentiment on Tuesday. Although equities fell again yesterday it was all fairly orderly. This morning Asia is bouncing though on fresh China stimulus, something we discussed in yesterday’s CoTD here. More on that below but working through things chronologically, earlier the Stoxx 600 closed -1.37% lower, having missed a large portion of the previous day’s US selloff, but generally continues to out-perform. US equities bounced around, with the S&P 500 staging a recovery from near intraday lows after the European close, moving between red and green all day (perhaps today’s option expiry is creating some additional vol) before closing down -0.58%.

This sent the index to a fresh one year low and puts the week to date loss at -3.06%, having declined -18.68% since its January peak. Barring a major reversal today, the index is now on track to close lower for a 7th consecutive week for the first time since 2001. In terms of the sectoral breakdown, it was another broad-based decline yesterday, but consumer discretionary stocks (+0.13%) recovered somewhat following their significant -6.60% decline the previous day. Consumer staples, meanwhile, continued their poor run, falling -1.98%, while tech (-1.07%) was not far behind.

Those losses occurred against the backdrop of a fresh round of US data releases that came in beneath expectations, which also helped the dollar index weaken -0.93% to mark its worst daily performance since March. First, there were the weekly initial jobless claims for the week through May 14, which is one of the timeliest indicators we get on the state of the economy. That rose to 218k (vs. 200k) expected, which is its highest level since January. Then there was the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing business outlook survey for May, which fell to a two-year low of 2.6 (vs. 15.0 expected). And finally, the number of existing home sales in April fell to its lowest level since June 2020, coming in at an annualised rate of 5.61m (vs. 5.64m expected).

The broader risk-off move that created meant that sovereign bonds rallied on both sides of the Atlantic. Yields on 10yr Treasuries were down -4.7bps to 2.84%, which follows their -10.2bps decline in the previous session. We didn’t get much in the way of Fed speakers yesterday, but Kansas City Fed President George nodded to recent equity market volatility, saying that it was “not surprising”, and that whilst policy wasn’t aimed at equity markets, “it is one of the avenues through which tighter financial conditions will emerge”. So no sign yet of the Fed being unhappy about tighter financial conditions so far, and markets are continuing to fully price in two further 50bp moves from the Fed in June and July. Nobody said getting inflation back to target from such lofty levels would be easy. So if you’re looking for a Fed put, it may take a while. Later on, Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari drove that point home, saying he was not sure how high rates ultimately needed to go, but said the Fed must ensure inflation does not get embedded in expectations.

Over in Europe debt moves were more significant yesterday, having not taken part in the late US rally on Wednesday. Yiields on 10yr bunds (-8.0bps), OATs (-7.4bps) and BTPs (-6.2bps) all saw a reasonable decline on the day. Over in credit as well, iTraxx Crossover widened +10.2bps to 478bps, which surpasses its recent high earlier this month and takes it to levels not seen since May 2020. We also got the account from the April ECB meeting, although there wasn’t much there in the way of fresh headlines, with hawks believing that it was “important to act without undue delay in order to demonstrate the Governing Council’s determination to achieve price stability in the medium term.” That group also said that the monetary policy stance “was no longer consistent with the inflation outlook”. But then the doves also argued that moving policy “too aggressively could prove counterproductive” since monetary policy couldn’t tackle “the immediate causes of high inflation.”

Asian equity markets are trading higher this morning after the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) lowered key interest rates amid the faltering economy. They cut the 5-year loan prime rate (LPR) – which is the reference rate for home mortgages for the second time this year from 4.6% to 4.45%, the largest cut on record, as Beijing seeks to revive the ailing housing sector to prop up the economy. Meanwhile, it left the 1-year LPR unchanged at 3.7%.

Across the region, the Hang Seng (+1.83%) is leading gains in early trade with the Shanghai Composite (+1.11%) and CSI (+1.41%) also trading up. Elsewhere, the Nikkei (+1.08%) and Kospi (+1.75%) are trading in positive territory. Outside of Asia, equity futures in DMs indicate a positive start with contracts on the S&P 500 (+0.75%), NASDAQ 100 (+1.01%) and DAX (+1.13%) all notably higher.

In other news, Japan’s national CPI rose +2.5% y/y in April, the highest for the headline rate since October 2014 and compared to the previous month’s +1.2% increase. Oil prices are lower with Brent futures -0.77% down to $111.18/bbl, as I type.

To the day ahead now, and data releases include UK retail sales and German PPI for April, as well as the advance Euro Area consumer confidence reading for May. Central bank speakers include the ECB’s Müller, Kazāks, Šimkus, Centeno and De Cos, along with the BoE’s Pill. Finally, earnings releases include Deere & Company.