BRAZIL: President Lula Appoints New Communication Minister

• Stocks are trading near steady (SPX Eminis) to mildly mixed at midday, tech-heavy Nasdaq outperforming. Currently, the DJIA trades down 51.47 points (-0.12%) at 42531.34, S&P E-Minis up 1.5 points (0.03%) at 5816.5, Nasdaq up 33.1 points (0.2%) at 18220.65.
• Communication Services and Information Technology sectors outperformed in the first half, interactive media and entertainment names supporting the former with Netflix +2.01%, Fox Corp +2.01%, Interpublic Group +1.99%, Omnicom Group +1.49% and Meta Platforms +1.21%.
• Software & hardware makers led gainers in the IT sector for a change, Crowdstrike Holdings +3.41%, Adobe +2.27%, Enphase Energy +2.19%, Cognizant Technology Solutions +2.08% and Autodesk +1.49%.
• On the flipside, Energy and Real Estate sectors underperformed in the first half, Vistra Corp -3.08%, Public Service Enterprise -3.02%, Dominion Energy -2.80% and FirstEnergy Corp -2.74% weighed on the Energy sector.
• Meanwhile, specialized REITs weighed on the Real Estate sector with Crown Castle -3.83%, Iron Mountain -2.71%, Digital Realty Trust -1.93% and SBA Communications -1.66%.

• EUR/USD: Mar27 $1.0750(E1.3bln), $1.0800(E1.9bln), $1.0820-25(E1.3bln), $1.0850-65(E1.9bln); Mar28 $1.0700(E1.1bln), $1.0800(E2.2bln)
• USD/JPY: Mar28 Y151.00($1.2bln)
• EUR/GBP: Mar31 Gbp0.8360-70(E1.1bln)
• USD/CAD: Mar28 C$1.4145-50($1.2bln)

ERM5 97.875 / 98.00 call spread, sold for 4 in 10k. Market contact suggests this is an unwind of an existing position.