Market Information Thursday 28 March 2024

Consumer confidence in the eurozone improved in March, according to final figures released by the European Commission on Wednesday. The index that reflects confidence increased by 0.6 points to -14.9. The index for economic sentiment in the eurozone rose by 0.8 points to 96.3 in March. The employment expectations index remained roughly stable at 102.6. Confidence in the industry increased fractionally, as did confidence in the services sector.

Dutch producers in the industry were slightly more negative in March. This became apparent on Wednesday from figures released by the Netherlands’ Central Bureau of Statistics. The confidence index went from -4.2 in February to -4.8 in March. Manufacturers were less positive about the expected business activity and more negative about their inventories. Producer confidence in March was below the 20-year average of -1.3. The confidence reached its highest value in October 2021 at 10.4. The lowest value was recorded in April 2020 at -31.5.

In the United States, crude inventories increased last week. This was evident from figures released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. In the week ending March 22, crude oil inventories increased by 3.2 million barrels to 448.2 million barrels. Gasoline inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels to 232.1 million barrels. Inventories of heating oil and diesel decreased by 1.2 million barrels to 117.3 million barrels. Refinery utilization rates increased from 87.8 percent to 88.7 percent.

The 6M Euribor is unchanged at 3.86% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap decreased with 5 basis points to 2.58% compared to previous business day.

In the attachment, today’s market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented.