U.S. Stock markets continue to retreat from last week's all-time highs with traders taking profits as the euphoria fades. U.S. indices are down 0.2% while the FTSE and Dax are down 0.4%.
Part of this decline may be due to enthusiasm over President Trump's economic programs fading. Markets are still waiting for details on tax and spending priorities which could take a while to fully crystallize and some traders may be starting to move on. Also, the weekend accusations by President Trump on Twitter against his predecessor over wiretapping , ongoing questions about the new Administration's relationship with Russia and reports a new border control order could be coming this week remind traders that there a number of other areas that could take the President's attention away from the economy.
In currency action, there have been some defensive flows. JPY is top dog today catching up to the rally gold staged Friday afternoon. The U.S. dollar is outperforming the other majors today coming out of Fed Chair Yellen's speech Friday afternoon. She came as close as a Fed member can get to signalling a rate hike indicating that at this month's meeting progress on inflation and employment will be reviewed with an adjustment in rates possible. Today is the last day for Fed speakers before the pre-meeting blackout kicks in. Because of this, Wednesday's ADP and Friday's nonfarm payrolls could attract particular attention.
It's otherwise a lighter week for economic news, but we could see more political developments.. China's government announced over the weekend that it is targeting 6.5% GDP growth this year, maybe a bit more. In Europe, the focus remains on very close election races in the Netherlands, France and Germany with the Netherlands voting next week and a possible change to the candidate lineup in France. Developments related to Brexit could keep the pound active through the week.