With the rider being extreme global uncertainty (witness the price of Brent spike back up to $115.50 overnight from a low of $109.45). Here is UBS's summary of the latest US data (note, in particular, the inflation data, which I have been harping on about for ages):
"* US: CPI rose 0.5% in Feb (consensus 0.4%), after a 0.4% rise in Jan. Core CPI rose 0.2% (cons & UBSe: 0.1%) after 0.2% - the first back-to-back gain since Sep-Oct 2009, accelerating to 1.1% from 1.0% y/y. Data suggest some upside risk to our inflation forecast.
* US: New jobless claims fell 16k to 385k, in line with expectations. The four-week average fell to 386k from 393k in the prior week.
* US: The index of leading economic indicators (LEI) jumped 0.8% m/m after a 0.1% gain in Jan.
* US: IP fell 0.1% in Feb (cons: +0.6%, UBS: +0.7%) after a 0.3% gain in Jan (was -0.1%). However, the drop reflected a plunge in utility output due to unseasonably warm weather. Factory output rose a solid 0.4%, after +0.9%.
* US: The Philly Fed current activity index rose to a 'booming' level of 43.4 in March from 35.9 in February."
