The economic calendar on Thursday, April 8 is not overly busy. The day started with a few reports from Japan that indicated a higher foreign bond investment and higher consumer confidence in March. The current Eco Watchers report for March was better than the last one, but the outlook for March dropped from the previous month.
In Europe, the Netherlands presented a slightly higher inflation rate report for March, but the ECB has already warned the markets that higher YoY inflation does not mean much because of the sudden drop in inflation last year at this time when the pandemic was still a novelty crisis.
Today we also await the minutes from the March policy meeting of the European Central Bank. The ECB has promised more bond purchases in Q2, so the minutes might reveal more on that account.
The United Kingdom delivered a construction PMI report that came in at 61.7, significantly outperforming the forecasts. This is also the only PMI from the UK to impress investors this week.
As is typical of any Thursday, the United States will be publishing reports on initial and continuing jobless claims later today. Moreover, traders should keep an eye on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the IMF later, though the talk is not likely to produce any major news.
In other news, there is now more information available about the tax changes planned by President Joe Biden’s administration. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen previously disturbed the markets with statements about a minimum international tax (an idea supported by the EU), but now it became clear that the 15% tax she proposes will only apply to companies with at least $2 billion of annual revenue, which will not affect quite as many companies as previously suspected.
This adjustment to the tax plan has been beneficial for the stock markets. Today US stock indices will resume their rally, after a few days of shaky trading.
Meanwhile, the share price of AstraZeneca today is rising, despite the company’s persistent problems. Both the European Medicines Agency and the UK’s Medicines and Health Agency determined that the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca could in rare cases contribute to a possibly lethal blood clotting issue.
However, considering the rare occurrence of this problem (in the UK there have been about 20 cases out of 20 million vaccinations) and the severity of Covid-19, both agencies still recommend the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. This optimism is likely the drive behind the pharma company’s share rally.
