ECB Rate Decision

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Thursday, March 9th

ECB Interest Rate Decision

07:45 EDT/12:45 GMT

Expected to leave key rates unchanged

– Maintain Main Refinancing Rate at 0.00%
– Maintains Deposit Rate at -0.40%
– Maintain Marginal Lending Rates at 0.25%

What the News Desk Says

The ECB governing council will likely keep its policy steady this week despite a steady improvement on the inflation front (being dictated primarily by energy prices). Analysts noted that the Feb Advance CPI moved above the ECB target of ‘around 2%’ for the first time in four years, thus putting pressure on the ECB to reduce its stimulus. But the continued firming seen in headline inflation readings is not apt to budge ECB message for the time being because core inflation remains stubbornly low. As 2017 progresses, the stimulus debate at the ECB may shift as the threat of deflation recedes and inflation levels begin to look sustainable across the whole euro zone region in coming months.

Analysis:
– Press conference seen to retain dovish bias on the back of political uncertainty
– ECB is likely to announce an extension of the TLTRO… more

Rollover Notice:

I personally will start trading the June mini SP this Friday but most traders will rollover tomorrow:

Rollover Notice for Stock Index Futures

Important notice: For those of you trading any stock index futures contracts, i.e., the E-mini S&P, E-mini NASDAQ, E-mini Dow Jones, the “Big” pit-traded S&P 500, etc., it is extremely important to remember that tomorrow, Thursday, March 9th, at 8:30 am CDT  Time is rollover day.

Starting March 9th, the June 2016 futures contracts will be the front month contracts. It is recommended that all new positions be placed in the June 2017 contract as of March 9th. Volume in the March 2017 contracts will begin to drop off until its expiration on Friday March 17th.

The month code for June is M7.

Traders with electronic trading software should make sure that defaults reflect the proper contract as of Thursday morning.

Please close any open March Currency positions by the close on Friday the 10th.

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