The ECB didn’t help the situation with a hawkish shift (despite Lagarde’s insistence there was no change) but there’s a broad negative tone in markets with US equities now at the lows of the day.
The ECB needed to do a couple of things in this meeting and they pretty much nailed it by offering some commitment to end bond purchases in Q3 this year.
In doing so, they offer up themselves some flexibility (the caveat being that they could change the schedule depending on the data and outlook) but it also gives the market a rough idea of when rate hikes could follow after. Adding to that, considering that rate hike bets were pared back in the past week, the euro is also getting a lift so they are able to stay away from any direct verbal intervention.
Two birds with one stone.
The euro is now up and above 1.1100 against the dollar currently but we’ll see if that can hold into the daily close.
That could open the path towards testing the 50.0 retracement level @ 1.1150 next. Lagarde’s press conference is up next and I would expect that to add more colour to the statement, so we’ll see how that goes.
A fresh set of sanctions being announced by the UK government on the seven Russian oligarchs, where their assets will be freezed and a travel ban being imposed as well. Those sanctioned are:
From the piece in the Journal:
Plenty more at the link (may be gated)
The report comes via Russian media RT, which is not the most independent of sources, but this seems legit.
Russia exempts individuals from value added tax (VAT) on the purchase of gold.
The measure is meant to provide support to Russian citizens, looking to invest their rubles, which have been depreciating in value amid Western sanctions.
