US retail sales rose 0.4% in June from the previous month, beating analysts' forecasts and capping a four-month stretch of increases, according to the Commerce Department. Sales increased in 11 of 13 categories, and overall sales were up 3.4% from June of last year.

Technical analyst Chad Shoop, CMT, takes the example of pharmaceutical firm Nektar Therapeutics, whose chart has developed a "classic wedge pattern," to explore the pattern's significance. With the stock between converging lines of support and resistance, a fast moving breakout can be regarded as imminent, typically in the direction the price was heading, and the pattern also sets a reliable target for how large the breakout will be -- in this case, 45%.

Facebook's proposed cryptocurrency, libra, "could be misused by money launderers and terrorist financiers," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says. The threat is serious enough to be considered a national security issue, he says.

The first sale of sovereign debt under the government of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has a fundraising target of €2.5 billion, according to the Public Debt Management Agency. The bond has a seven-year maturity.

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, who aim to succeed Theresa May as UK prime minister, have taken positions that raise the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit. Both candidates say they are unwilling to accept even a limited version of the Irish backstop.

The UK is likely the only Group of Seven country able to raise its inflation target above 2%, former Bank of England adviser Tony Yates says. "There would be no constitutional, treaty, or other restrictions preventing a new government from substantially revising the Bank of England mandate," Yates wrote in a note.

The European Securities and Markets Authority plans to submit a report to the European Parliament by December 2020 that addresses misalignment between the European Market Infrastructure Regulation Refit and the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive.

AQR Capital chief technology officer Neal Pawar will take over as Deutsche Bank's group chief information officer in September. Pawar will spearhead the bank's €13 billion technology investment program over the next three years.

UK Financial Conduct Authority CEO Andrew Bailey urged firms "not to have misplaced confidence that Libor as it exists today will survive" past the 2021 deadline. Bailey told an industry conference that "once FCA has determined Libor not to be representative, writing a new contract still referring to the rate involves more conduct risk than I would countenance."

Facebook's David Marcus is expected to tell the Senate Banking Committee today that the company won't offer its planned digital currency libra until it has satisfied regulators' concerns, according to prepared remarks. Marcus says libra isn't meant to compete with national currencies and won't interfere with monetary policies set by central banks.