The euro hit again a new low yesterday

Good Morning,

- The euro hit again a new low yesterday and slumped below $1.10 for the first time since September 2003. Last was trade slightly above to this level at $1.1015.

- The common currency fell to an 11-1/2-year low against the dollar and European stock prices rose to seven-year highs yesterday, after the ECB spelled out its 1 trillion-euro stimulus plan that begins next Monday.

- Mario Draghi outlined the central bank's quantitative easing program at a press conference following a scheduled policy meeting. He left the door open for more bond purchases beyond September 2016. He also unveiled forecasts showing higher economic growth with an inflation outlook that puts the ECB on track to reach its inflation goal of just below 2 percent.

- U.S. employment likely rose strongly in February with the jobless rate slipping, signs that could encourage the Federal Reserve to consider hiking interest rates in June. A Reuters survey of economists forecast a 240,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls after a 257,000 gain in January. That would mark the 12th straight month of job increases above 200,000, the longest such run since 1994.

- Fed's Williams says to expect 25bps rate rises but not at every meeting Fed should remove patient from FOMC statement at March meeting. Removing patient will not mean Fed will stop giving forward guidance.

-Bank of America on USD: The greenback continues on its bull trend, notes Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "The USD Index is on track for its upside target of 97.01, while the EUR/USD break below 1.1098 (Jan-25 low) targets 1.0953 ahead of the Sep'03 low at 1.0765 and eventually below," BofA projects. Moreover, BofA notes that GBP/USD is finally falling in with the USD bull trend after its close below the 1.5322 pivot. "This confirms a resumption of its larger bear trend and clears the way a test of the Jul’13 low at 1.4813 and eventually below," BofA argues.

- In January 2015, German production in industry was up by 0.6% from the previous month on a price, seasonally and working day adjusted basis according to provisional data of the Destatis.

- Switzerland's government will seek to coordinate more closely with the independent Swiss National Bank after the latter's shock decision to drop its cap on the Swiss franc, according to a confidential policy resolution seen by Reuters on Thursday. Switzerland could consider a new currency cap, two government ministers wrote in a separate working paper, but the resolution, which has been adopted, made no reference to this. A government spokesman denied on Wednesday that Bern had asked the central bank to introduce a new cap on the value of the Swiss franc

- The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is reporting a profit of CHF 38.3 billion for the year 2014 (2013: loss of CHF 9.1 billion).

- The leading index for Japan, which measures the future economic activity dropped unexpectedly in January, after rising in the previous month. The leading index fell slightly to 105.1 in January from 105.3 in December. Economists had expected the index to rise to 105.8.

- Moody's: New Zealand's economic growth supports Aaa rating. Moody's says that New Zealand's economy is growing strongly, despite a steep fall in dairy prices during 2014. Construction, partly in relation to the rebuilding of Christchurch after the 2011 earthquakes, and also in the Auckland housing market, has been an important contributor to growth. As a result, Moody's expects New Zealand's real GDP to rise to close to 3% during 2015 and to remain robust through 2016.

Have a nice Day !