- The pound Sterling remained steady throughout the last week around $1.26, as there weren't any significant data released last week.
- The euro swung around $1.08 as slightly higher inflation figures came out last week. The inflation rate in the Eurozone slowed for a second month to 2.6% in February, but markets expected it to fall further to 2.5%. Also, the core rate eased to 3.1% from 3.3%, but expectations were for a lower 2.9%.
- The economic sentiment indicator in the Euro Area declined to 95.4 in February 2024, down from January's revised figure of 96.1 and falling short of market expectations of 96.7. Sentiment remained subdued as businesses grappled with still-high inflation, rising borrowing costs, and weak external demand.
- The consumer price inflation rate in the Euro Area declined to 2.6% year-on-year in February 2024, down from 2.8% in the previous month. Still, remaining slightly above market expectations of 2.5%, a preliminary estimate showed.
- The dollar index extended its decline to fall below 104 as investors digested a slew of poor economic data out of the US and remarks by a few central bank officials.
- New orders for manufactured durable goods in the United States slumped by 6.1% month-over-month in January 2024, more than market expectations of a 4.5% fall and following a 0.3% decrease in December. This marked the most substantial monthly decline in durable goods orders since April 2020, primarily driven by transportation equipment.
- The US economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3.2% in Q4 2023, slightly below the 3.3% in the advance estimate. The downward revision was due to private inventories.
- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic reiterated his view that it will probably be appropriate for the US central bank to begin cutting interest rates this summer based on his outlook for inflation. On the other hand, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Wednesday that even as there's still some distance to cover in achieving the U.S. central bank's 2% inflation target, the door is opening to interest rate cuts this year depending on how the data come in.
- Core PCE prices in the US, which exclude food and energy, increased by 0.4% from the previous month in January 2024, the most since February 2023 and in line with market expectations.
- The annual inflation rate in France slowed to 2.9% in February 2024, the lowest since January 2022, from 3.1% in January, but markets were expecting it would ease more to 2.7%, preliminary estimates showed. The slowdown is mainly due to base effects from last year when inflation accelerated and prices jumped over the month.
- The annual inflation rate in Italy remained steady at 0.8% in February 2024, defying market expectations of 0.9%, preliminary reading showed.
- The Italian GDP expanded by 0.9% in 2023, slowing from the upwardly revised 4% growth rate in the previous year, the slowest expansion since 2019, growing faster than most major economies in the Eurozone.
- US Fed Harker Speech (4 PM)
- UK BRC Retail Sales Monitor YoY FEB (midnight)
- Italy HCOB Services PMI FEB (8:45 a.m.)
- FR HCOB Services PMI Final FEB (8:50 a.m.)
- Euro Zone HCOB Services PMI Final FEB (9 a.m.)
- Italy GDP Growth Rate YoY Final Q4 (9 a.m.)
- UK S&P Global Services PMI Final FEB (9:30 a.m.)
- USA ISM Services PMI FEB (10 a.m.)
- Euro Zone Retail Sales MoM JAN (10 a.m.)
- UK Spring Budget - Wednesday (12:30 p.m.)
- USA Fed Chair Powell Testimony (3 p.m.)
- USA JOLTs Job Openings JAN (3 p.m.)
- ECB Interest Rate Decision (1:15 p.m.)
- ECB Press Conference (1:45 p.m.)
- Euro Zone Employment Change YoY Final Q4 (10 a.m.)
- Euro Zone GDP Growth Rate YoY 3rd Est Q4 (10 a.m.)
- USA Non-Farm Payrolls FEB (1:30 p.m.)
- USA Unemployment Rate FEB (1:30 p.m.)
