Soft data in Asia and the continued decline in the yuan (six days and counting) prevented Asian equities from following the US lead from yesterday when the S&P 500 advanced by 0.8%. European shares are paring yesterday's 1.2% advance despite an unexpected gain in the EMU flash PMI. US shares are little changed in the European morning. Benchmark 10-year bond yields in Europe are 1-2 bp higher, and though the political crisis in Italy has not been resolved, Italian bonds continue to outperform, ostensibly on hopes that a near-term election can be avoided. The dollar narrowly mixed and seemingly stuck in recent ... (full story)