Yellen’s soft tone improved sentiment and lifted the US Dollar

Wall Street finished positively. The US Secretary of Treasure Janet Yellen testified before the house and backpedaled on Wednesday’s remarks that the US government is not planning to introduce blanket insurance to all depositors. Yellen said, “The strong actions we have taken ensure that Americans’ deposits are safe. Certainly, we would be prepared to take additional actions if warranted.”

Data-wise, the US Department of Labor revealed that the labor market remains tight, unveiling the Initial Jobless Claims for the last week. Claims rose by 191K, less than the 201K estimates by the market. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for February plunged to -0.19 vs. the prior’s month 0.23.

Meanwhile, European Central Bank (ECB) officials crossed the wires and remained hawkish. ECB Muller said that the ECB should likely raise rates a little. Echoing some of his comments was Klas Know, adding that the ECB is unlikely to stop raising interest rates.

Sources linked to the ECB commented that policymakers are confident that the Eurozone (EU) banking system stood tall in the recent turbulence. Therefore that would allow the ECB to resume additional interest rate increases.