Market information Friday January 22nd 2016

Yesterday, the European Central Bank (ECB) kept its policy rate unchanged at its lowest level ever. In addition, Mario Draghi president of the ECB, announced that the asset buying program will be reassessed for the next policy session in March and that there will be “no limits” to how far the measures will be deployed. The reason for the announcement is the low inflation expectation. Last month, inflation in the Eurozone was 0.2%, partly caused by a fall in energy prices. The price of Brent oil has fallen almost 40% since December 2015. The inflation target of the ECB is 2%.

Figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) indicate that unemployment was 6.6% in December 2015, compared to 7.2% a year earlier. Unemployment benefit applications declined most in the construction sector. In this sector, the number of applications for unemployment benefits fell by 25%.

Yesterday, the AEX index closed 2.72% higher at 406.49 points. Also other stock exchanges worldwide closed higher. The DAX increased by 1.9% and the CAC gained 2%. The increase was mainly caused by the announcement of the ECB.

The 6M Euribor remained unchanged at -0.06%. The 10Y Swap decreased by 3 basis points at 0.78%.

In the attachment, today’s market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented. For more history of these rates or other rates feel free to ask: update@zanders.eu.