FOMC Meeting, Home Sales, Treasury Auctions, Final Q1 GDP

Stock markets are flying this morning in reaction to China’s announcement on Saturday that it will loosen the yuan’s peg to the U.S. dollar</p

The People’s Bank of China said now that economic recovery has “cemented,” there is “no foundation” for large fluctuations in the yuan’s rate. On Sunday, the central bank added that currency reform would contain inflation and help prevent asset bubbles from forming.</p

“While this weekend’s announcement from China is a small step and likely aimed at keeping the pressure off during the G20 meeting and to avoid being labelled a currency manipulator by the U.S. Treasury next month, it is still significant step to a slowly appreciating CNY this year,” said economists BMO Capital Markets. “The CNY has already appreciated considerably versus the EUR so far this year so a more rapid pace of strength versus the USD will likely not take place until next year, when the global economic recovery is more sturdy.”</p

At 8:30 eastern time, the UK FTSE 100 was up 51.32 points to 5,302.16 and the German Dax was up 78.75 points to 6295.73. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was up 242.99 points to 10,238.01, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 625.47 points to 20,912.18, and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 72.99 points to 2,586.21.</p

At home, Dow futures are up 115 points to 10,488 and S&P 500 futures are up 15.00 points to 1,121.00. The 2-year Treasury note is 3.2bps at 0.746% and the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield is 7.2bps higher at 3.297%
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While the US dollar weakens, NYMEX Light Crude is trading $1.12 higher at $78.30. Spot Gold, which hit another record high at $1,265.39 overnight, is currently up $0.20 to $1,258.50</p

Key Events This Week:</p

Monday:</b</p