Two Big Economic Events Are Coming Up Today

From Calculated Risk:

• 7:45 AM ET (1:45 PM CET) the ECB meets in Frankfurt. From Nomura:

We expect the ECB to deliver a package of measures on 5 June to ease monetary policy. We expect a 10bp cut to all key interest rates, taking the refi rate down to 0.15%, the deposit rate negative for the first time to -0.10% and the marginal lending facility rate down to 0.65%. We also expect an extension of the forward guidance on liquidity provisions, with the fixed-rate full-allotment procedure extended by a further 12 months to at least the end of June 2016. We also expect the ECB to launch a targeted LTRO programme in June (60% probability), to address credit weakness and risks to the recovery from this channel.

• At 8:30 AM, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to increase to 310 thousand from 300 thousand.

We'll be covering all this LIVE.