EUROZONE T-BILL ISSUANCE: W/C March 31, 2025

Reuters reporting comments from Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, speaking in Cape Town, South Africa at the G20 Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' meeting. On trade with the US, Reeves says "The last time President Trump was in the White House, trade and investment flows between our two countries increased, and I've got every confidence that that can happen again," Reuters: "Trump has said value-added taxes levied by European countries represent an unfair barrier to U.S. exports. Asked if Britain was likely to change its tax regime, Reeves said: "decisions on tax are for the UK government to make."

• Asked by Reuters whether she was concerned about an adverse reaction in financial markets to the upcoming spring statement fiscal event on 26 March, Reeves said she would not give a running commentary, claiming that "We took the action that was necessary in October to secure our public finances," she said. "Public services now need to live within the means that we've set."
• A lower-than-forecast fiscal surplus in January has raised speculation that spending cuts, tax hikes, or both will be required in March to remain within the gov'ts self-imposed 'fiscal rules'. 

US President Donald Trump is shortly due to convene the first Cabinet meeting of his second term. Some brief remarks at the top of the meeting will be live-streamed on C-Span here. 

• There has been considerable media focus on the presence of Trump's special advisor Elon Musk at the meeting - highly unusual as Musk does not have a formal role within the administration.
• The meeting comes amid hints of a rift between Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and the Trump Cabinet, with several department heads directing their staff to disregard an ultimatum from DOGE to justify their positions or face dismissal.
• 538's presidential approval tracker shows that Trump's approval rating has slipped from +8.2% to +0.8% since inauguration with some speculation that the slide could be partially attributed to Musk's perceived overreach. Today's Cabinet meeting will be a key opportunity for officials to advocate for a more cautious approach to federal government reforms.
• Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today, outlining a new strategy to mitigate the spread of bird flu and lower the price of eggs, an issue that has snowballed in recent weeks. Rollins warned: "This five-point strategy won’t erase the problem overnight, but we’re confident that it will restore stability to the egg market over the next three to six months."

GBP rallying well into the Wednesday WMR fix - worth recalling today is value-date month-end, so we may well be seeing some month-end rebalancing flow playing out in recent trade.

• Comfortably the best volumes of the session and, in fact, the week on the latest rally - a move that brings the 1.27 handle into play, last crossed in mid-December. This price action affirms the underlying bull cycle that's been in play for the past few weeks - making 1.2767 the next key resistance and the 50% retracement for the bear leg posted off the September high into January's lows.
• No specific newsflow or headlines behind this GBP strength - with a volume surge and month-end flows likely at play here.