Europe

Moments ago, during a hearing of Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, in his prepared remarks Mario Draghi said that “support from our monetary policy measures is still needed if inflation rates are to converge toward our objective with sufficient confidence and in a sustained manner.” Confirming that no changes to the ECB's monetary policy are due in the near future,  Draghi said that "underlying inflation pressures remain very subdued and are expected to pick up only gradually", adding that "risks to the euro area outlook remain tilted to the downside" but "relate mai

The last time we heard from Dennis Gartman, he has just turned bearish due to a peculiar "catalyst": he had just seen the infamous Barron's "Dow 30,000" cover (with a two day delay) which prompted him to say that "we would very much like to think that Dow 30,000 shall eventually be upon us, and we very, very much would like to believe that any further weakness in  stocks is to be bought, but at the moment we have very serious doubts to that effect…. Very, very serious doubts." Shortly after, the Dow spiked above 20,000 again, and the S&P closed Friday just shy of all time highs.

• The Patriots’ Insane Comeback: One for the History Books (WSJ)
• Euro fades in face of French election risks (Reuters)
• Legal battles to test Trump and his travel ban (Reuters)
• Standoff Looms Over Travel Ban; Trump Rips Judge (WSJ)
• Trump Set to Attend NATO Summit in May (WSJ)
• Trump Administration Aims to Sever Russia’s Iran Ties (WSJ)
• Draghi Takes the Case for QE to Brussels (BBG)
• Tiger Hedge Funds Become Wall Street Prey (WSJ)
• Iran's missile test 'not a message' to Trump (Reuters)

In the latest political twist in the French presidential race, AFP has reported that recent French presidential frontrunner Francois Fillon, who has been embroiled in a major graft scandal, will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. at his campaign headquarters in Paris, at which many traders are expecting he will announce that he is stepping down, although according to subsequent Reuters reports Fillon may launch a "fightback" against the fake job scandal that has sent his standing in the polls crashing

In a relatively quiet session, which may see US traders sleep in a bit after last night's Superbowl thriller, European and Asian shares rose ahead of Mario Draghi’s testimony at the European Parliament, while US equity futures were fractionally higher (up 0.1% to 2,293) after stocks jumped the most in a week, as traders assessed the trajectory for interest rates while scrutinizing every new Trump tweet.