MNI Global Week Ahead March 8 - 12: ECB In Focus

Key Things to Watch:

• Wednesday, March 10 – U.S. CPI
  • U.S. CPI likely advanced 0.4% in February following a 0.3% increase in January, according to Bloomberg, the highest since July.
  • Excluding food and energy, CPI is forecast to increase 0.2% after a flat reading in January.

• Thursday, March 11 – ECB Rate Decision
  • ECB set to keep main policy settings unchanged, with main rates, PEPP envelopes maintained.
  • Policymakers likely to address higher global, EZ yields and whether weekly purchase pace will pick up.
  • The latest quarterly ECB staff projections will be published, which will likely show higher inflation in 2021, although little change further out.
• Thursday, March 11 – U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims
• U.S. jobless claims filed through March 6 are set to have dropped to 725,000 from 745,000 through February 27, according to the Bloomberg consensus.
• Continuing claims filed through February 27 are expected to fall to 4.18 million from 4.3 million through February 20.
• The labor market continues to improve, exemplified in part by February's blockbuster employment report from the BLS. Sil, analysts say initial claims could increase in the coming weeks as workers impacted by severe winter storms in the South apply for government aid.