Market Information Thursday 14 March 2024

Industrial production in the eurozone dropped more than expected in January. This was revealed on Wednesday by figures from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Industrial production in the eurozone fell by 3.2 percent on a month-over-month basis, whereas economists had anticipated a decrease of 1.1 percent. On an annual basis, production dropped by 6.7 percent against an expected contraction of 2.1 percent.

Yesterday, the British official statistics bureau reported that industrial production in the United Kingdom declined in January, as had been predicted. Production decreased by 0.2 percent on a month-over-month basis, following an increase of 0.6 percent in December. Analysts had predicted a production decline of 0.1 percent for January. The British goods export also dipped slightly in January. The value of the exports fell by 0.5 percent on a month-over-month basis. In contrast, imports rose by 2.0 percent. The trade balance deficit increased by 2.2 billion pounds to 13.8 billion pounds in the three months leading up to January.

In the United States, crude oil inventories fell last week, along with gasoline stocks. In the week ending March 8, crude oil inventories dropped by 1.5 million barrels to 447.0 million barrels. Gasoline stocks fell by 5.7 million barrels to 234.1 million barrels. However, inventories of heating oil and diesel increased by 0.9 million barrels to 117.9 million barrels. The capacity utilization of refineries went up from 84.9 percent to 86.8 percent.

The 6M Euribor increased with 2 basis points to 3.91% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap increased with 3 basis points to 2.62% compared to previous business day.