Market Information Friday 22 April 2022

Consumer prices in the Eurozone rose sharply in March. This was revealed yesterday by final figures from Eurostat. The annual inflation rate in March was 7.4%. The previous estimate of inflation by Eurostat was 7.5%. Inflation continues to rise given that in February and January inflation figures were still reported at 5.9% and 5.1% respectively. Core inflation, which adjusts for energy prices among other things, was 2.9% year-on-year in March.

European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos considers an interest rate increase in July to be possible. This was reported by Bloomberg yesterday afternoon. De Guindos also said that he sees no reason for why the bond buying program cannot end in July. This statement follows the news earlier this week that the chairman of the central bank of Latvia, Martins Kazaks, also expected an interest rate increase in July. Following the vice president’s statements, the euro rose to its highest level in the past week.

Between April 9 and April 16, there were 184,000 initial jobless claims in the United States. The number of new claims fell slightly by 2,000 compared to a week earlier. Analysts had expected a stronger decline of 4,000. This still leaves the number of applications hovering around the lowest point in over 50 years.

The 6M Euribor is unchanged at -0.33% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap increased with 8 basis points to 1.65% 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.