European Central Bank President Mario Draghi talks up the need to continue the bank’s monetary easing policy.
Speaking to an audience in the Netherlands this Wednesday he defended the bank’s policy of buying around €60bn-worth of mostly government bonds each month by saying the negative side effects of the policy had so far been limited. He said: “We are monitoring these various effects carefully, taking into account our price stability mandate. Against the backdrop of a recovery that is becoming increasingly solid, the benefits of our policy clearly outweigh potential side effects.”
Elsewhere, the US President’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey fueled more market tension – given that nobody can ever predict what the bombastic Trump is going to do next! The White House claims the decision is due to Comey’s handling of Hillary Clinton's emails, while the Democrats put the decision down to the FBI’s investigation into alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The event has put a pin in the US Dollar's recent rise, as well as European bourses. The French economy had another slice of good news today, with French industrial production rising further than expected in March on a surge in output of manufactured goods. Industrial output rose 2% on-month in the month after a weak start to the year.
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--- Written by Katie Pilbeam, DailyFX
