The ECB kept interest rates unchanged and made no changes to its current QE program. President Draghi confirmed the program will run until March or beyond if necessary. The surprise for traders comes as there was no tangible clue that extended QE was even a seriously contemplated option for the time being.
Central banks have been at the centre of the gradual recovery we’ve seen throughout these past years, and its at such instances that investors may start to be concerned that the monetary policy affect may be starting to loose its effectiveness.
The USD was heading south after today’s Asian session, and the US Dollar index (DXY) is currently at 94.85. The euro has held on well after the ECB failed to trigger more stimulus. EURUSD has moved to session highs of 1.1283 this morning, atad higher than its open at 1.1258.
Asia traded mixed this morning with news that North Korea has possibly been conducting a nuclear test, impinging on overall sentiment. What initially seemed to be a North Korean earthquake seems to have been induced by a 5th Nuclear test by this same nation.
Later today we shall be looking at German and UK Trade Balance, Canadian Unemployment and US Wholesale Inventories
