Fresh Highs For S&P E-Minis Apply Light Pressure

A bid in the equity space in the wake of quarterly earnings releases from some of the U.S. tech giants (Apple & Facebook) was evident in Asia-Pac hours, resulting in the S&P 500 e-mini contract hitting a fresh all-time high, with the NASDAQ 100 outperforming (the Fed's insistence surrounding the path of future policy i.e. inflation matters are deemed transient, still some time until substantial progress is seen and now is not the time to discuss tapering also supported equities). The uptick in equities applied some light pressure to T-Notes, with nothing in the way of surprises seen provided in President Biden's latest address. T-Notes last -0-02 at 132-01, 0-00+ off lows, operating on ~40K lots, with liquidity thinned and cash Tsys closed until London hours on the back of a Japanese holiday.

• JGBs were closed as Japan observed the aforementioned national holiday.
• YM +0.5, XM +2.0 in what has been relatively sedate trade. Very light pressure crept into XM on the back of the previously flagged uptick in U.S. equity index futures, although the negative RBA-adjusted net supply, month-end index extensions and spill over from yesterday's softer domestic CPI data seemingly continue to provide an underlying level of support. In local news, Treasurer Frydenberg noted that the country's jobless rate will "need to have a four in front of it" to generate the required level of wage growth and inflation, with the Treasury's estimate of NAIRU now between 4.5-5.0% (remember that RBA Governor Lowe couldn't discount the suggestion that NAIRU may start with a 3 when questioned on the matter during a recent appearance).