Market movers today
We expect to see a continued improvement in the German ZEW indicator, which is due to be released today. Later, US producer prices are due out but are unlikely to have much impact on markets.
The main event in the Scandi markets will be the Swedish inflation data for February – it should be in line with the Riksbank’s projections.
Selected market news
We saw some modest gains in the US equity markets ahead of the string of central bank meetings this week (US, UK, Japan and Switzerland due this week). The US government bond market came under pressure given a string of corporate bond issuance yesterday, where a number of corporate bonds issuers came to the market in the 10Y and 30Y segment. This led to pressure on the US Treasury curve from the long end of the curve.
It has been a mixed picture in the Asian equity markets this morning, while oil prices has rebounded modestly after having fallen over the past week. There have been modest movements in the major FX crosses this morning. The Norwegian krone rebounded yesterday versus the euro as it was close to the 9.20 level. This morning it trading at the 9.12 level. We expect further strengthening of NOK versus the euro.
The UK continues its path towards Brexit after the vote in parliament yesterday. However, Scotland is looking for a new independence vote in 2018 or 2019. Hence, the pressure for a weaker sterling is expected to persist for now.
