18 Jul: FX steady, metals up, oil, stocks lower. IMF warn of overvalued US$. Australian jobs data ahead. UK R/S later By Jim Langlands

The US stock indexes dipped by around 0.5%, on the back of some weak corporate results, particularly from CSX Corp (-9.9%), which dragged the industrial sector down with it and stoked concerns that the protracted trade war between the US and China could increasingly impact on corporate earnings.

Gold and Silver were big movers on the day, rising by 1.5% and 2.5% respectively on the back of the IMF statement.  WTI headed lower, after the weekly report from the US Energy Information Administration indicated that gasoline stockpiles were nearly 4 times higher than expected, with a gasoline balance of more than 9 times the forecast during the week ended July 12. This more than counteracted the expected rise in demand from fuel following Cyclone Barry, and consequently WTI prices fell by around 1.8%.

In terms of data, the EU CPI was finalised at 1.3% yy in June, revised up from 1.2%, up from May’s 1.2% yy. Core CPI was finalized at 1.1% yy, unrevised, up from May’s 0.8% yy, while the June, UK headline CPI was unchanged at 2.0% yy, matched expectations. From the US, the June housing starts fell for a second straight month in June, by 0.9%, and building permits dropped sharply, by 6.1%, to a two-year low, suggesting that the housing market continues to struggle despite declining mortgage rates.

Thursday will see a relatively thin calendar but will kick off with the June, Japan Trade Balance and Australian Unemployment (exp 5.2%, +10K, 66% PR). Europe will the look to the U Retail Sales for June (exp -0.3%mm, +2.6%yy), while the US have just the Philadelphia Fed Mfg Survey (exp 5)  and the weekly Jobless Claims to focus on, in what looks likely to be a session dominated by politics and Twitter Accounts!

Economic data highlights will include:

Thur: Japan Merchandise Trade Balance, Australian Unemployment, UK Retail Sales, US Philadelphia Fed Mfg Survey, Jobless Claims

Market moves, in brief:

FX: DXY 97.22 (-0.16%)

Bonds: US10Y; 2.047% (-2.96%), German 10Y; -0.290% (-16.61%), UK 10Y; 0.76% (-6.15%), Australian 10Y; 1.403% (-0.82%), NZ 10Y; 1.62% (+0.93 %), China 10Y; 3.199% (+0.66%)

Stock Indices: DJI; -0.42%, S+P; -0.65%, NASDAQ; -0.46%, EUStoxx50; -0.56%, FTSE100; -0.55%, Shanghai Composite; -0.20%,

Metals: Gold $1426 oz (+1.49%), Silver $15.97 oz (+2.71%), Copper $2.716 lb (+0.59%), Iron Ore $121.14 per tonne (NYMEX) (-0.04%),

Oil: WTI $56.36 pb (-1.88%)