The ECB looks set to begin monetary policy tightening, despite signs of further deterioration in the peripheral economies.• We do not expect the Bank of England’s MPC to follow the ECB in ...

• EU peripheral spreads to drift wider after Summit decision and ongoing concerns over Portugal.• Busy domestic schedule, the consumer in focus with saving ratio for Q4 due and more ...

Oil prices torn between rising tensions in Libya and signals of increased supply from other OPEC members. Surveys this week will gauge impact of oil prices in March.• Worsening in EU17 periphery ...

Markets track developments in Libya and wider MENA nervously - Brent Crude maintains recent highs following attacks close to oil infrastructure in Brega, Libya.• ECB surprised last week ...

Following the relatively calm manner with which markets dealt with regime change in Tunisia and Egypt, the spreading revolution in Libya has had a much greater impact. Brent Crude leapt to close to ...

Sterling markets have been whipsawed over the past week by rising speculation of a near-term rise in UK interest rates. Although there was some relief that annual CPI inflation rose to ...

The international calendar is crammed this week with key inflation data in the UK, US and China, and preliminary GDP estimates across most of the Eurozone and Japan. The reverberations of Japanese Q4 ...

Fixed income markets endured another bruising week last week in the wake of a drop in US unemployment, sharp jumps in global PMIs and unsettling comments from Fed Chairman Bernanke over the outlook ...

Although last week’s MPC meeting passed without event, growing nervousness over the UK rate outlook continues to weigh heavily on sterling rate sentiment. The Dec-11 short sterling contract has ...

With global bond markets showing signs of capitulation, markets are likely to be pouring over the veritable feast of economic releases and events this week for confirmation, or otherwise, of the ...