ECB Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf said that “we central banks need to do a better job at communicating and explaining”. He criticized “there continues to be uncertainty about exactly what ‘close to, but below’ means” regarding ECB’s price stability definition of “below but close to 2%”.
Makhlouf added, “it has been argued that since central banks are unlikely to hit a point target on a regular basis, having one makes it harder to explain policy to the public and that a range, with or without a focal point, may be more realistic and therefore provide the central bank with more credibility.”
US oil inventories rose 0.5m barrels, WTI crude recovers back above 50
US commercial crude oil inventories rose 0.5m barrels in the week ending February 21, below expectation of 2.3m barrels. At 443.3 barrels, crude oil inventories are about 3% below the five year average for this time of year.
WTI crude oil dipped to as low as 48.98 earlier today but recovered after the release, back above 50 handle. Prior rejection by falling 55 day EMA is a sign of near term bearishness. Further fall is now in favor as long as 54.59 resistance holds. Decline from 65.38 could target a test on 42.05 low.