Market Information Wednesday 19 May 2021

The purchase program of the European Central Bank has been sufficiently motivated by the central bank after the German constitutional court had requested it. Therefore, the Bundesbank can continue to buy German government bonds on behalf of the ECB. That is what the Bundesverfassungsgericht states in a decision published Tuesday. The court declared inadmissible two charges that questioned that motivation. This brought an end to a long battle of German Eurosceptics who repeatedly brought the legitimacy of the buy-back program to the constitutional court.

The Dutch economy contracted by 0.5% in the first quarter compared to the three previous months. This is evident from a calculation by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). “The first quarter was dominated by the hard lockdown, with curfews and the closure of non-essential stores,” explains CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen. The Netherlands did slightly better than both the eurozone average of -0.6% and the approximately 1% contraction that the major banks had expected. Construction, business services and industry made a positive contribution to economic development.

The European Union’s executive on Tuesday adopted a plan for a more unified corporate tax regime across the bloc, whose 27 national systems are struggling to cope in a world where cross-border business, often via the Internet, is commonplace. Under its proposal, certain large companies operating in the EU would have to publish their effective tax rates to ensure greater transparency, and there would be new anti-tax avoidance measures to tackle the abusive use of shell companies.

The 6M Euribor decreased with 1 basis point to -0.52% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap increased with 2 basis points to 0.19% 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.