Market News

On Thursday the European central bank announced its plan to end asset purchases in the third quarter, accelerating its exit from the extraordinary stimulus amid soaring inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve will move forward with plans to raise interest rates this month to try to tame high inflation, however, the war in Ukraine has made the outlook “highly uncertain” for US central bank policymakers.

Western fears of a major war in Europe after which on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised the separatist enclaves in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine that adjoin Russia.

Eurozone economic growth slowed sharply quarter-on-quarter as expected in the last three months of 2021, confirmed data on Tuesday. Activity was hit by another wave of COVID-19 infections and surging prices impacted disposable incomes.

German industrial production dropped in December, showed official data on Monday as supply chain bottlenecks and a drop in construction inhibited its economy at the close of last year.

OPEC + producers stuck to the planned moderate output increases on Wednesday, although there were pressures from top consumers to raise production more quickly.

On Wednesday the Federal Reserve said it is likely to raise interest rates in March and reaffirmed its plans to end its bond purchases that month with Jerome Powell, the US central bank chief, pledging it will be a way to help tame away inflation.

German producer prices climbed by 24.2% year on year in December, with the record annual jump driven by higher energy prices, showed official data on Thursday.

US consumer prices climbed solidly in December with the annual increase in inflation, being the largest in nearly four decades. The consumer price index increased 0.5% last month after an 0.8% increase in November, said the Labour Department on Wednesday.

The Eurozone’s economic recovery stumbled in December as new a surging number of COVID-19 infections reduced growth in the bloc’s dominant service industry, showed a survey on Wednesday, and could weaken further if more restrictions come into force.

European stocks dropped more than 2% on Monday amid a global sell-off in equities, with investors worrying about the impact of tighter pandemic curbs on the economy as cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant surged.

Following its two-day policy meeting, the FED indicated that its inflation target has been met and announced the end of the bond purchases in March paving the way for a three quarter-percentage-point interest rate increases by end of 2022