There were no data releases from Eurozone yesterday, with euro continuing to decline. Markets are turned to speculations on future ECB moves. Mario Draghi has two weeks left to decide how to ramp up stimulus in a way that doesn’t upset either his colleagues or investors. When European Central Bank policy makers meet in Frankfurt from March 9-10, they’ll consider whether negative interest rates and 60 billion euros ($67 billion) a month of debt purchases is enough to revive consumer prices.
In the US session New Home Sales figures were released. Purchases of new homes dropped more than forecast in January as contract signings slumped in the western U.S. by the most since May 2010.
Sales declined 9.2% to a 494,000 annualized pace after a 544,000 rate in December that was the strongest in 10 months, Commerce Department data showed Wednesday. The median forecast of economists called for 520,000. Sales in the West fell 32.1%.
Tomorrow, from Eurozone, M3 Money Supply figures will be published. Incline by 4.7% is forecasted. In the US session Unemployment Claims and Durable Goods Orders figures will be released. Analysts predict increase to 272,000 in Unemployment Claims and 3.0% rise in Durable Goods Orders.
Figures to watch:
M3 Money Supply (Thursday 10:00)
Unemployment Claims (Thursday 14:30)
Durable Goods Orders (Thursday 14:30)