Rates as of 0500 GMT

Market Recap

Financial markets were dominated by riskoff sentiment yesterday but without a clear catalyst. One can point to many factors. Four particularly stand out 1 concerns over Russia cutting off gas supplies to Europe; 2 concerns over the recrudescence how I love that word! of COVID19 in China; 4 worries about tomorrows US consumer price index and the impact that it might have on Fed policy and the dollar; and 4 the start of the Q2 US earnings season.

European gas The Nord Stream pipeline is undergoing scheduled 10day maintenance. True, German natural gas futures fell 8.3 yesterday on last weeks news that Canada would return a turbine for the Nord Stream pipeline that was being repaired there had been fears that sanctions would prevent its return. Nonetheless it will take some time to reinstall it. And even when thats done, there are still concerns about whether the pipeline will be turned back on again after the maintenance is over. Moreover, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that the French government is preparing for a total cutoff of Russian gas supplies, which it sees as the most likely scenario. This is bad enough for France, which gets only 17 of its natural gas from Russia, but what about Germany? French natural gas prices, which have lagged behind other European markets, rose 11.

In China, Multiple Chinese cities are adopting fresh COVID19 curbs, from business halts to lockdowns, to rein in new infections, with the…