European markets enjoyed a welcome respite yesterday after three successive daily declines, rebounding after the IMF adjusted its 2021 GDP forecast upwards, though the pill was somewhat soured by the fact that they downgraded the EU’s GDP outlook by a full percentage point, to 4.2%. The damage was more than offset by an upgrade to the US outlook from 3.1% to 5.1%, however in contrast US markets finished the session slightly lower, no doubt driven by a little caution ahead of today’s Federal Reserve meeting, as well as a host of important big tech earnings announcements, the first of which came from Microsoft after the bell.