Bonds are improved this morning  and stocks slightly weaker. Nothing in the US in terms of data is moving markets so far this morning. In Europe, the European Commission’s economic sentiment index for the 17-country region fell to 98.3 in August from a revised 103.0 in July. That was below forecast and the largest one-month fall since just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the autumn of 2008. Expectations of additonal Central Bank rate increases in Europe to combat inflation are being scaled back as concerns about a double dip there heighten.