Equities keep slightly higher on the session so far
The market is settling down a little with risk sentiment holding slightly firmer as we navigate through European morning trade so far.

No further postponement
One to mark on the calendars as politics will come back into the picture in the months ahead for the pound. The campaigning process will be difficult though and depending on the virus situation, it could also affect voter turnout but we’ll see.

Comments by German health minister, Jens Spahn
– We have the means to beat the virus during this year
– All three vaccines (Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna) appear equally effective
The appears to be moderating at a gradual pace but amid concerns of the more contagious virus variant spreading, tighter restrictions may yet stay in place through to

Further comments by Broadbent
The headline is more to the fact that they are not shutting the door to negative rates at this point in time but make no mistake, QE remains their most preferred option at the moment unless economic conditions worsen considerably.

BOE announces its latest monetary policy decision – 4 February 2021
– 0.10%
– Bank rate votes 0-0-9 vs 0-0-9 expected

ECB extends temporary euro liquidity lines to March 2022
Much like the dollar swap lines, these are mainly to ensure that non-euro area central banks have sufficient euro liquidity as the virus crisis continues to play out.

Not much actually
The BOE announces its first policy decision of the year at 1200 GMT and is likely to be more of a non-event, though there are some things to watch out for.

Latest data released by Eurostat – 4 February 2021

Silver eases to test the lows for the week
Precious metals aren’t getting much love today as the dollar holds firmer across the board and is now threatening to break higher as the 1.2000 level in EUR/USD looks to be in danger as sellers (dollar buyer) target a daily break of that.

Latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association for the week ending 29 January 2021
–  -4.1%
– Market index 981.1 vs 907.6 prior
– Refinancing index 4,746.2 vs 4,261.5 prior
The jump in the past week owes much to a spike in refinancing activity but purchases in general also continue to hold up. That continues to reflect stronger housing