Economy

ECB vs. inflation
ECB leaves interest rate unchanged

For the fifth meeting in a row, as expected, the ECB leaves the deposit rate unchanged at 2.00 percent. In a survey before the announcement from Bloomberg, all economists surveyed expected an unchanged outcome.

“The weakening of the US dollar and thus the strengthening of the euro have led to some concern at the bank,” Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING, writes to his clients, according to AFP.

The key interest rate is also left unchanged at 2.15 percent.

The ECB “is determined to ensure that inflation stabilizes at the 2 percent target over the medium term,” the central bank wrote in a press release.

Crypto Market
Bitcoin Below $64,000: “We’re in the Despair Phase”

Bitcoin falls below $64,000 for the first time since October 2024. Ergonia analyst Chris Newhouse believes that the buy side is not coping with the current large outflows from ETFs, writes Bloomberg.

– Momentum is driving the market right now, and crypto bear markets often end in apathy rather than panic, says Ryan Rasmussen at Bitwise and continues:

– Right now we are in the despair phase.

At 9:25 p.m., Bitcoin is down almost 14 percent to $63,381 on high trading volume. On Wednesday, the currency was trading at $73,000.

Players Bet on Bitcoin Below $55,000

On betting sites like Polymarket, players believe that bitcoin has an 82 percent chance of falling below $65,000 before the end of the year, writes Bloomberg. The probability of the level of 55,000 dollars is 54 percent.

–It basically reflects the bearish mood in the markets right now, Ian Solot from Marex tells the news agency.

On Thursday, bitcoin has fallen to nearly 70,000 dollars.

Winter Olympics  The Games in Milan-Cortina
Olympic medals are more valuable than ever

The Winter Olympics in Italy this year will award the most expensive medals ever, CNN and Fortune report. The reason: the prices of gold and silver have skyrocketed.

A gold medal is worth $2,400, while a silver medal is worth $1,400. Compared to the Paris Olympics, a gold medal is now worth more than twice as much. A silver medal is worth three times as much as at the last Olympics.

“I can imagine that the gold and silver medals for the next Summer Olympics will be even more expensive than they are now for the Winter Olympics,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, told CNN.

A 506-gram gold medal consists of just six grams of gold, equivalent to 1.2 percent of its mass. The rest is silver. A bronze medal consists of copper and is worth $5.60.

Volvo Cars' future
Analysis: Tougher for Volvo Cars before it gets better

Volvo Cars CEO Håkan Samuelsson has every reason to be disappointed after the fourth quarter's sharp drop in profits, writes Håkan Matson at EFN. Despite good margins in the new EX60, it will likely be a while before the company reaches "brighter times".

"The best is yet to come", states Matson.

DI's Magnus Dagel writes that the warm reception of the EX60 and the guidance of "clearly improved free cash flow" this year are not enough and notes that the stock is plummeting on the report.

DN's Jonas Fröberg writes that Volvo Cars' weak report is due to geopolitical chaos, fierce competition in China and a poor model program. This means that Volvo's new volume model, the electric SUV EX60, "must be a success", he assesses.

Volvo Cars halved operating profit

Volvo Cars' operating profit came in well below what analysts had predicted. Turnover was also worse than expected.

Analysts had expected a higher operating profit than last year, but instead the profit line was halved.

CEO Håkan Samuelsson points to a number of external factors such as import duties and currency.

"In addition, revenue was affected by weak demand, which put pressure on pricing, and the removal of incentives for electric cars in the US, which negatively affected sales during the quarter," writes CEO Håkan Samuelsson.