After initial optimism that Greece's political parties had finally reached an agreement on austerity measures yesterday, Eurogroup members subsequently rejected the proposals late in the evening, and demanded Greek Finance Minister Venizelos return to Athens to procure deeper cuts. It appears that EU policymakers are not yet willing to sign off on the deal until Greece shows a deeper commitment to carrying out austerity measures, and have set a new deadline of next Wednesday (when another Eurogroup meeting has been scheduled) for the Greeks to produce something more impressive. Given this setback, EURUSD has dropped back from 1.3322 highs seen at the peak yesterday to 1.3250 levels today, and Asian equity markets have struggled due to a broad loss of risk appetite.
As expected yesterday, the BoE left interest rates on hold at 0.50% and announced another GBP50bn of asset purchases, bringing the total prescribed since the start of the financial crisis to GBP325bn. In the accompanying statement, the monetary policy committee noted that the pace of recovery had slowed in 2011, despite some signs of a more positive picture in the recent data. The central bank also asserted that inflation should continue to moderate going forward; that view, combined with lingering concerns over European sovereign debt issues is likely to have facilitated the decision to inject fresh quantitative easing.
The ECB also held its latest monetary policy meeting yesterday, and as expected, the governing council left interest rates on hold at 1.00%. Reading the prepared statement, ECB President Draghi said surveys confirmed tentative signs of stabilization in the Eurozone, but the outlook was subject to “high uncertainty” and “downside risks”. Notably, he clarified that the ECB no longer sees “substantial” downside economic risks – hinting that perhaps the central bank is now more confident that there will be a happy resolution of the sovereign debt crisis.
Coming up in today’s session, we will get a number of inflation readings from across Europe; including January CPI figures from Germany, Switzerland and Norway, along with the latest UK PPI data. The afternoon session will feature US December trade balance, and the U. Michigan consumer sentiment for February.
As expected yesterday, the BoE left interest rates on hold at 0.50% and announced another GBP50bn of asset purchases, bringing the total prescribed since the start of the financial crisis to GBP325bn. In the accompanying statement, the monetary policy committee noted that the pace of recovery had slowed in 2011, despite some signs of a more positive picture in the recent data. The central bank also asserted that inflation should continue to moderate going forward; that view, combined with lingering concerns over European sovereign debt issues is likely to have facilitated the decision to inject fresh quantitative easing.
The ECB also held its latest monetary policy meeting yesterday, and as expected, the governing council left interest rates on hold at 1.00%. Reading the prepared statement, ECB President Draghi said surveys confirmed tentative signs of stabilization in the Eurozone, but the outlook was subject to “high uncertainty” and “downside risks”. Notably, he clarified that the ECB no longer sees “substantial” downside economic risks – hinting that perhaps the central bank is now more confident that there will be a happy resolution of the sovereign debt crisis.
Coming up in today’s session, we will get a number of inflation readings from across Europe; including January CPI figures from Germany, Switzerland and Norway, along with the latest UK PPI data. The afternoon session will feature US December trade balance, and the U. Michigan consumer sentiment for February.
By
M.Zohaib Gadit
Forex Trading Consultant
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