There will be bigger fish to fry later in the week. But for now, European traders and investor will have to fend for themselves in working through this more tentative and tepid market mood. Traders are settling down after Fed rate cuts bets have cooled since last week, though Fed funds futures still point to ~84% odds of a 25 bps move.

All eyes will be on Fed chair Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole on Friday. But before we get to that, there will be some interest on the Fed minutes as well as earnings by big retailers – namely Target and Walmart. And that is not forgetting the PMI data on Thursday as well.

In the meantime though, we’re in for yet another slower session to start the week. Major currencies are little changed after the dollar posted slight gains overnight. The changes are leaving a lot to be desired and speaks to the lack of conviction as we look to European morning trade. A snoozefest really.

And that is also exemplified by the movement in equities with US futures being little changed, down just 0.1%, after the near unchanged showing in Wall Street yesterday.

There is at least some positive murmurs from the talks between Trump, Zelensky, and European leaders in Washington. But again, now we’ll have to see if we can move to an eventual sit down between Putin and Zelensky to work things out. Call me a skeptic but I still hold my doubts on this issue.

In any case, we’re likely going to be in for another slower and quieter session barring any headline surprises in the hours ahead.