MNI European Morning Briefing

     LONDON (MNI) - The calendar picks up where it left off on Wednesday with

Europe and US dominating the schedule. 

     The European calendar kicks off at 0645GMT, with Switzerland publishing

their unemployment data. 

     At 0700GMT, Germany release their January manufacturing orders which had

double-digit gains in 3Q17 and 4Q17 due to extremely strong industrial orders.

Analysts expect a reigning in of orders, pencilling in a 1.6% m/m contraction.

     The Bank of France releases the February Business Survey at 0745GMT. 

     At 1100GMT, the OECD Leading Indicator for the EU will be released. 

The US calendar kicks off at 1230GMT, with the publication of the Challenger

Monthly Layoff Intentions. 

     The announcement of the ECB monetary policy decision comes at 1245GMT in

Frankfurt. The bank's former chief economist Jurgen Stark argues the ECB are

"... falling behind the curve..." and policy will take time to normalise. 

     In Canada, the CMHC will be released at 1315GMT and both the Building

Permits data and the New Housing Price Index Y/Y at 1330GMT. 

     US jobless claims (released at 1330GMT), is expected to rise by 10,000 to

220,000 in the March 3 week, fully reversing the 10,000 decline in the previous

week to a 49-year low. 

     At the same time, the EU Press Conference will be held following the

Governing Council meeting of the ECB, in Frankfurt.

In the US, the Bloomberg Comfort Index comes out at 1445GMT. 1500GMT sees the

simultaneous release of Services Revenues and QCEW and at 1530GMT, Natural Gas

Stocks are to be released. Domestic non-financial debt figures for Q417 will be

released by the Fed at 1700GMT. 

The BOC Deputy Gov Timothy Lane's speech on Economic Progress at 2035GMT comes

off the back of the overnight rate remaining unchanged to facilitate "... the

economy operating close to potential".

The daily calendar concludes at 2130GMT, with the US Fed releasing the Weekly

Money Supply Data. 

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3828; email: jai.lakhani@marketnews.com