Market movers today
We have several speeches from ECB members, but they are unlikely to provide markets with additional information regarding the statements from the ECB from last week.
The UK parliament will vote on a bill that would authorise Prime Minister Theresa May to begin negotiations for a Brexit. Hence, this week may be the week where May decides to ‘trigger’ Brexit.
Furthermore, focus will be on the Dutch election as well as the FOMC meeting. The FOMC meeting seems to be a done deal in terms of a rate hike. The markets will be looking for information on how many hikes the Federal Reserve will do in 2017.
In Scandi markets, focus will be on Swedish inflation as well as the Norges Bank meeting. See more below and our publication Scandi Markets Ahead: Norges Bank meeting and focus on "weak" NOK, 12 March 2017, where there is a special section on the NOK.
Selected market news
Asian equities posted some small gains across the region this morning on the back of the positive US labour market report released on Friday last week, as well as the positive data from China this morning. Chinese industrial production data for January and February released this morning showed gains of more than 6%, while the service sector expanded more than 8%.
Focus in the Asian markets will be on the FOMC meeting as well as the Bank of Japan meeting this week. The oil price continues to slide this morning. We have seen small movements in the major currencies this morning. The EUR/USD has moved above the 107 level in Asian trade.
There were increased tensions between the Netherlands and Turkey over the weekend, as ministers from Turkey were barred from campaigning in the Netherlands. However, even though this might give support to Geert Wilders’ campaign, the dispute is not expected to have a major impact on the Dutch election.
