ECB drops its easing bias; Trump will meet Kim Jong Un by May

The European Central bank left interest rates unchanged and will continue its asset purchases program of 30 billion euros per month till Spetember. The ECB removed the statement that it was ready to increase the level of bond purchases in case of a deterioration in the EZ, and in so doing effectively dropped its easing bias.

Solid economic recovery helped to removing the mentioned easing bias. The ECB also upped its forecasts for real GDP, it now expects 2.4% growth in 2018, 1.9% in 2019 and 1.7% in 2020.

The euro initially spiked higher but finally closed Thursday’s session in negative territory.

US Equities closed higher after Trump implimented tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium that excluded Canada and Mexico. The tariffs will take effect in 15 days.

Meanwhile Trump also agreed to meet Kim Jong Un by coming May. This helped the mood in Asia, where the major equity inidces continued the trend from the US session and moved higher.

Later today we are expected high impact data as we await Nonfarm payrolls data for the month of February.

Original Article