• On Wednesday, Dutch voters will go to the polls to vote in elections that will decide the makeup of the Tweede Kamer, the lower and most important house of the Netherland's parliament. It's a proportional representation system that uses party lists, so people won't be voting specifically for candidates: Instead, they will vote for a party.
Given the fractured nature of the Dutch political scene and the uncertainty of coalition building (more on that later), it's a little hard to say right now. However, polls do suggest that Mark Rutte, the current prime minister and leader of the pro-business People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), is one likely scenario.
• The Bank of Japan's next move will be to start phasing out its ultra-easy monetary policy, according to a majority of economists polled by Reuters in a dramatic turnaround of expectations from just two months ago.
The BOJ will signal a move away from its accommodative policy by raising the 10-year Japanese Government bond yield target, which it currently wants to keep at around zero, a majority of economists in the latest poll said.
The BOJ is widely expected to keep policy unchanged at a meeting this week as it waits for more data to show a pick-up in inflation, according to a separate poll.
Eight analysts forecast the central bank would do so in 2019 or later.
• Activity in China's real economy has improved, with the business environment now much better than at the same time last year, the statistics bureau said.
National Statistics Bureau spokesman Sheng Laiyun made the comments at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday. Data released by the statistics bureau earlier on Tuesday showed that China's factory output rose percent in January-February from the same period a year earlier, while fixed-asset investment grew percent, both beating expectations, though retail sales growth eased.6.3 8.9
• Crude oil prices hovered near three-month lows on Tuesday, with investors waiting for key reports and data that may shed light on a supply overhang in the global market.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 was down 7 cents at $48.33 a barrel, as of 0716 GMT. The contract ended down 9 cents in the previous session after touching its lowest since the end of November at $47.90.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 gained 3 cents to $51.32 a barrel, having settled down 2 cents on Monday after dipping as low as $50.85.
Reference: Reuters
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