G3 STIR markets are either unch to 1 tick......>

STIR: G3 STIR markets are either unch to 1 tick away from yesterday's close, but

this ignores the volatility seen mid-morning in the European morning session.

- Headlines had suggested that the EU was willing to reopen negotiations

surrounding the withdrawal agreement with Angela Merkel said to be willing to

put a five year limit on the Irish backstop. This saw STIR futures reach their

lows of the day with the biggest moves unsurprisingly seen in short sterling.

However, within half an hour the story was denied and moves were largely

retraced.

- There is a scarcity of top tier data today with Italian retail sales a bit

better than expected this morning and US JOLTs the highlight of the afternoon.

- The Tory-Labour Brexit talks continue this afternoon ahead of tomorrow's EU

Summit where the formal response to the UK's request for a Brexit extension to

June 30 will be declared. The market is also looking ahead to the ECB meeting,

FOMC Minutes and US CPI - all due tomorrow.