Asian stock markets are mixed, with Japan continuing to underperform as a stronger Yen is weighing on exporters. WTI tested 46 per barrel and is hovering there ahead of this evenings API petroleum inventory report. With central banks in Europe buying up bonds and pushing down yields, investors looking for returns are likely to continue to push stocks to new highs, but for now it seems markets are taking a breather.

Crude Oil Hits Fresh 1-month High

Crude rallied to 46.16 a one-month high, printing four consecutive higher daily highs in the process. Upside momentum this week had been spawned by hopes for some sort of production freeze, with the likes of Russia and Saudi Arabia indicating they were open to the idea of attempting to stabilize the oil market. The API is schedule to report on inventories on Tuesday which will be followed by the EIA inventory report scheduled for 10:30 AM ET on Wednesday.

German appears to be stable. On the heels of a positive GDP sentiment is gaining traction. The details of the German ZEW investor confidence reading showed that the reading for short term interest rates in the Eurozone rose slightly in August, to a still negative -10.4, from -11.6 in July and versus -7.9 back in June, that is before the Brexit referendum. By contrast, the reading for short term rates in the U.K. dropped to -47.6 from -38.4 in July and versus +20.4 in June.

The Reserve Bank of Australia reported that the central saw the opportunity for accelerating economic growth when it cut its repo rate in early August and sees inflation remaining below its target for another 2-years.

In the U.S. traders will get a taste of inflation which is likely subdued. July CPI is out on Tuesday and should reveal an unchanged headline alongside a 0.2% core increase. This compares to June figures which had the headline up 0.2% with the core up 0.2%.