Overall, the ECB's Corporate Sector Purchase Program portfolio amounts to EUR319.4 billion, and the four-week moving average weekly purchases decelerated slightly to EUR1.7 billion, they said.
The yield on U.K. 10-year benchmark government debt traded lower, after initially rising a couple of basis points in reaction to U.K. inflation accelerating in January to the highest level in 30 years.
The 10-year gilt yield initially rose two basis points after the data was released, but was now trading at 1.573%, below Tuesday's close of 1.581%, according to Tradeweb.
Commodities:
Oil prices rose, recovering some of Tuesday's sharp losses after industry data showed U.S. oil inventories slumped.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute released late Tuesday showed that crude stocks fell by 1.1 million barrels last week, while gasoline stocks decreased by 900,000 barrels and distillate inventories fell by 500,000 barrels.
The figures come ahead of stocks data from the Energy Information Administration set to be released later Wednesday. The EIA is expected to say inventories fell by 600,000 barrels in the week through Friday, while gasoline stocks are forecast to rise by 500,000 barrels.
European gas prices slumped for a second day, falling to their lowest level in a year, on hopes that a conflict between Russia and Ukraine can be avoided.
Benchmark European gas futures fall more than 6% to EUR66.35 a megawatt-hour, taking them to their lowest level since February 2021.
The latest losses add to sharp declines Tuesday that came after Russia said it was withdrawing some troops from the Ukrainian border, and taking weekly losses to almost 14%.
Russian gas flows through Ukraine have also picked up in recent days. Westward flows through a key metering station on the Ukrainian-Slovakian border have risen for three days as of Tuesday, but remain significantly below levels seen earlier this month, according to data from Slovakian gas operator Eustream.
Base metals prices rose as signs of easing tensions between Ukraine and Russia revive investors' risk appetite.
Three-month copper on the LME is up 0.5%, while aluminum gains 1.3% and nickel rises 0.2%.
Russia said Wednesday more troops--these one stationed in Crimea--were returning to their bases, according to reports. NATO and Western nations have said they see little signs that Russia was reversing its military buildup.
EMEA HEADLINES
Russia Says Troops Withdraw From Crimea but U.S. Warns Ukraine Invasion Still Possible
MOSCOW-Russia's Defense Ministry said it was withdrawing troops from Crimea following the completion of military drills as Western intelligence reports that Moscow could invade its smaller neighbor as soon as Wednesday didn't immediately materialize.
Defense officials said the troops were returning to their permanent place of deployment, but their destination couldn't be independently confirmed and large Russian military exercises continued across a broad front elsewhere near Ukraine.
Eurozone Industrial Production Rose in December, Beating Forecasts
Industrial production in the eurozone rose in December, beating forecasts despite global supply-chain strains and rising input prices.
Output from factories, mines and utilities across the region rose 1.2% in December compared with November, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.1% increase.
U.K. Annual Inflation Accelerated to 5.5% in January
The rate of inflation in the U.K. quickened in January, holding at a three-decade high, as energy prices remain elevated and supply chains continue to struggle with the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The consumer price index--which measures what consumers pay for goods and services--increased 5.5% in January, compared with a year earlier, the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.
Heineken Swung to 2021 Net Profit; Warns of Inflation hit
Heineken NV on Wednesday posted a swing to net profit for 2021, above market expectations, though the company warned that it expects to be significantly hit by inflationary pressures.
The Dutch brewer--which also owns the Sol, Birra Moretti and Tiger beer brands--said it expects significant inflationary and supply-chain pressure in 2022, as it continues to navigate an uncertain environment, and that it will raise prices to offset the increases.
Ahold Delhaize Swung to 4Q Net Profit, but Sees Lower 2022 Underlying EPS Growth
Royal Ahold Delhaize NV on Wednesday reported a swing to net profit for the fourth-quarter of 2021, beating market forecasts, though it said that it expects adjusted earnings per share to fall this year as margins return to historical levels.
The Dutch grocer made a net profit for the quarter of 634 million euros ($720.2 million), compared with a net loss of EUR9 million for the year-earlier period and a consensus profit of EUR535 million taken from the company's website and based on 12 analysts' forecasts.
Maersk Is Hungry for More U.S. Logistics Companies
Danish container-ship company A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S is planning more acquisitions in the U.S. as it chases a greater share of domestic logistics spending.
Narin Phol, Maersk's managing director for North America, said shippers spend eight to nine times more on domestic logistics such as trucking, warehousing and delivery than on international ocean freight, the company's core business. "Now we want to get access to and bring the two flows together," Mr. Phol said.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Banks Hit by Suspected Cyberattacks, Officials Say
Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces websites and online services of two state-owned banks were disrupted by suspected cyberattacks on Tuesday, government and bank officials have said.
The country's defense ministry said in an English-language Facebook post that its web portal suffered a likely distributed denial of service attack, in which hackers flooded the website with traffic to overload its systems and take it offline.
GLOBAL NEWS
Retail Sales to Show Consumer Appetite for Spending Amid High Inflation
Americans are expected to have increased retail spending last month as the Omicron surge of Covid-19 eased and prices rose.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect the Commerce Department to report on Wednesday that retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 2.1% in January, a sharp rebound from December's 1.9% month-over-month decline.
Japan's Stock Market Plans Revamp to Draw More Investors
TOKYO-The Tokyo Stock Exchange, a former global No. 1 turned also-ran, has a plan for revival that calls for sweeping out the market's dusty corners where small and lightly traded companies loiter.
The exchange recently unveiled its biggest overhaul in 60 years that includes tougher standards for its top section, which will be renamed "Prime" and start operating in April.
China Inflation Eases as Economy Could Use a Boost
HONG KONG-Inflationary pressure in China continued to ease in January, offering room for Beijing to stimulate growth while more major economies are looking to tighten policy to curb rising prices.
The producer-price index, a gauge of wholesale prices charged by manufacturers, rose a lower-than-expected 9.1% from a year earlier, down from December's 10.3%, National Bureau of Statistics data published on Wednesday show. Softening coal and steel prices helped lead the index lower, said Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the bureau.
China Aims to Tamp Down Iron-Ore Prices, But Impact Is Tipped to Be Short-Lived -- Talking Markets
China's attempts to curb speculation in the iron-ore market have jolted prices of the steel ingredient lower, but market experts don't see the impact lasting.
Concerns around Chinese intervention have flared at a time when demand for iron ore has been stunted by steel production restrictions in China, aimed at improving air quality for the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Senate Republicans Block Vote on Biden's Fed Nominees
WASHINGTON-Senate Republicans refused to attend a crucial committee vote on President Biden's nominees to the Federal Reserve over a disagreement with Democrats on one of the candidates, delaying the confirmation of all five picks, including Chairman Jerome Powell.
Republicans had earlier said they wouldn't attend a Senate Banking Committee vote on the nominees because of concerns they had with Sarah Bloom Raskin, nominated to serve as vice chairwoman for bank supervision.
SEC Probes Trading Affiliates of Crypto Giant Binance's U.S. Arm
The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the relationship between the U.S. arm of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and two trading firms with ties to Binance's founder, people familiar with the probe say.
The two trading firms, Sigma Chain AG and Merit Peak Ltd., act as market makers that trade cryptocurrencies on the Binance.US exchange. One area of focus for regulators is how Binance.US disclosed to customers its links to the trading firms, the people say.
EU Court Rules Funding for Poland, Hungary Can Be Cut
WARSAW-Europe's top court ruled on Wednesday that the European Union could withhold money for member countries that have curtailed the independence of their democratic institutions, marking a potentially costly defeat for Hungary and Poland.
The ruling, by the EU's European Court of Justice, gives the bloc more power to clamp down on governments accused of purging their judiciary or weakening anticorruption watchdog agencies. Under the decision, the EU could block those countries from receiving money if it can show that their lack of independent courts or their weak anticorruption agencies present a risk that the EU's money-meant for the building of roads, trains, bridges and other social programs-could be misspent.
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02-16-22 0639ET
