It was another quiet overnight session from a news perspective, which has been positive for global equity markets (i.e., no bad news is good news). China’s Shanghai Composite closed nearly 3% higher following four consecutive daily declines, and European indices are up approximately 1%. The S&P 500 continues to inch closer to a new all-time high, with futures up 6 points currently. Yesterday we noted a Reuters article suggesting a more hawkish shift at the Bank of Japan, and today it was reported that Japanese real wages rose in June at the fastest pace since 1997. The Treasury department will issue $34 billion 3-year notes later today, and 10-year and 30-year auctions will be held tomorrow and Thursday, respectively. The 2-year/10-year spread has been holding steady near 30 bps for the last two weeks, and corporate debt spreads have tightened another basis point so far in August in the wake of the larger 10-12 bps tightening in July.
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