Not happening. Trump’s speech has been postponed. "The secretary refused to come and discuss with us, so I am cancelling the hearing," said Richard Neal, chairman of the House of Representatives' tax affairs committee. The purpose of this hearing is to discuss the effects of the shutdown and the measures planned by the department. Another date will be proposed next week to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. In addition, Donald Trump has decided to wait until the end of the budget blockage to deliver his State of the Union speech to Congress, which was originally scheduled for next Tuesday.
The postponement of Brexit is more and more likely. Labour MP Yvette Cooper yesterday tabled an amendment to allow Theresa May an extension (until February 26) to ratify the Brexit agreement in the House of Commons. Beyond that date, if the agreement is not validated, Parliament could ask the EU to postpone the date of the United Kingdom's exit from the EU, initially scheduled for March 29, to December 31. Regarding the backstop, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator on Brexit, revealed that this measure "could not be limited in time", since it consists in guaranteeing the absence of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Speech by Mario Draghi this morning. The ECB held its monetary policy meeting and, as expected, decided to leave its interest rate levels unchanged (main key rate, refi rate at 0.00%, deposit rate at -0.40% and marginal lending rate at 0.25%), given the uncertain economic environment and the weakened growth prospects. Mario Draghi's speech following the ECB meeting is eagerly awaited as investors wonder how the institution will normalize its highly accommodating monetary policy in this context.
In other news. Manufacturing growth slowed in Japan: PMI index of 50, lower than expected and lower than the previous publication. As in Germany, and in the euro zone: PMI index of 49.9 and 50.5 respectively. The euro area (private sector) composite PMI index is at its lowest level since 2013, at 50.7.
The postponement of Brexit is more and more likely. Labour MP Yvette Cooper yesterday tabled an amendment to allow Theresa May an extension (until February 26) to ratify the Brexit agreement in the House of Commons. Beyond that date, if the agreement is not validated, Parliament could ask the EU to postpone the date of the United Kingdom's exit from the EU, initially scheduled for March 29, to December 31. Regarding the backstop, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator on Brexit, revealed that this measure "could not be limited in time", since it consists in guaranteeing the absence of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Speech by Mario Draghi this morning. The ECB held its monetary policy meeting and, as expected, decided to leave its interest rate levels unchanged (main key rate, refi rate at 0.00%, deposit rate at -0.40% and marginal lending rate at 0.25%), given the uncertain economic environment and the weakened growth prospects. Mario Draghi's speech following the ECB meeting is eagerly awaited as investors wonder how the institution will normalize its highly accommodating monetary policy in this context.
In other news. Manufacturing growth slowed in Japan: PMI index of 50, lower than expected and lower than the previous publication. As in Germany, and in the euro zone: PMI index of 49.9 and 50.5 respectively. The euro area (private sector) composite PMI index is at its lowest level since 2013, at 50.7.
