Market Information Wednesday 1 March 2023

US consumer confidence in the economy fell in February. This was revealed on Tuesday by figures from The Conference Board. The consumer confidence index fell to 102.9 this month from a revised 106.0 in January.

House prices in the largest urban regions of the United States fell again in December on a monthly basis and rose less sharply on an annual basis than in the previous month. This was revealed by Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller figures on Tuesday. House prices in the 10 largest regions fell 0.8% on a monthly basis in December. On a year-on-year basis, prices rose 4.4%. However, this was still 6.3% in November and 8.0% in October.

The European Central Bank has no reason to refrain from raising interest rates by 50 basis points at the upcoming interest rate meeting, according to ECB chief economist Philip Lane, speaking to Reuters. The economist acknowledges that inflation is now cautiously moving in the right direction. But, Lane stressed, the ECB will not stop raising interest rates until it is confident that inflation is falling towards the desired 2%. Since July, the ECB has already raised interest rates by 3 percentage points. And so for March, another 50 basis points looks set to be added.

The 6M Euribor increased with 1 basis point to 3.24% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap increased with 4 basis points to 3.23% 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.