| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 07:00 | Germany | Gfk Consumer Confidence Survey | March | -6.7 | -6.3 | -8.1 |
| 09:00 | Switzerland | Credit Suisse ZEW Survey (Expectations) | February | 9.5 | | 9 |
| 10:00 | Eurozone | Harmonized CPI | January | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| 10:00 | Eurozone | Harmonized CPI ex EFAT, Y/Y | January | 2.6% | 2.3% | 2.3% |
| 10:00 | Eurozone | Harmonized CPI, Y/Y | January | 5% | 5.1% | 5.1% |
USD appreciated against most of its rivals in the European session on Wednesday, as investors digested the Eurozone’s inflation data for January and the latest comments of the ECB’s policymaker Robert Holzmann.
The Eurostat reported that its final estimate confirmed that the Eurozone’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 5.1 percent in January 2022 from 5.0 percent in December 2021. On an m/m basis, however, consumer price growth slowed to 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent in the previous month, also coinciding with preliminary estimates. Economists warn that if the region’s inflation continues to rise in the coming months, it will heighten the pressure on the ECB’s policymakers to hike the interest rates.
The ECB’s Governing Council member Holzmann suggested today that the first rate hike by the ECB could come in summer, before the end of its bond purchasing program
Meanwhile, market participants shrugged off the disappointing GfK’s German consumer climate report, which revealed that the consumer sentiment indicator fell to -8.1 points heading into March from -6.7 points in the previous month, as a spike in coronavirus cases and rising inflation had a negative impact on consumer morale in early February.
In addition, investors remained cautious, awaiting Russia’s reaction to a new set of Western sanctions, which were imposed in response to president Putin’s declaration of the independence of the two separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine and ordering Russian troops into those territories.