90 seconds at 9 am: US jobless claims drop 26,000; US household wealth up 3.8%; ECB rates unchanged on less deflation risk; what to do about Russia?; NZ$1 = US$0.849 TWI = 79.36

Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news that things are looking good for the hip pockets of Americans.

Jobless claims declined by 26,000 to 323,000 in the week ended March 1, according to a Labor Department report. This decline was the smallest since the end of November and fewer than any economist had forecast.

Other data showed consumers’ views of the economy reached an almost seven-month high.

And on top of that household wealth in the US. increased in the period from October through to December, with gains in stock portfolios and home prices.

The net worth of households and non-profit groups in the quarter rose by 3.8% - that’s US$2.95 trillion - to a record US$80.7 trillion, the Federal Reserve announced.

Within that household real-estate assets climbed by US$401.1 billion.

Such positive news helped to spur the markets.

The S&P 500 was up about 0.4%, the Dow Jones up 0.5%, while gold rose about 0.8% and oil was down 0.7%.

The European Central Bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at 0.25% as President Mario Draghi said the risk of deflation in the euro region was easing, with new forecasts showing that inflation will approach targets by the end of 2016.

That sent the euro to a two month high, though the news wasn’t as good for Britain’s pound which dropped to a month low against the Euro.

And meanwhile in Britain, the Bank of England left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5% as widely expected. And the bank’s governor Mark Carney said there was “no rush” to remove the emergency stimulus put in place by his predecessor Mervyn King.

Also in Britain, house-price growth accelerated in February to the fastest in almost five years according to Lloyds Banking subsidiary Halifax, with values increasing 2.4% to an average of just under £180,000. Prices are up 10% in the past year.

Elsewhere in Europe, EU governments have halted trade and visa negotiations with Russia and prepared sanctions against selected Russian officials in protest at moves by Russia to get control of the Crimea region in Ukraine. But there seems little agreement on the type of sanctions needed.

All this came as Crimean lawmakers called a March 16 referendum to return the region to Russian control.

The Kiwi dollar is higher today and pushing towards a record against our trading partners. Against the American dollar we are up at 84.91 cents, while we are down at 93.3 cents against the Australian currency after strong trade and retail figures across the ditch yesterday. But the Trade weighted index is up at at 79.36.

If you want to catch up with all the changes yesterday, we have an update here.

The easiest place to stay up with today's event risk is by following our Economic Calendar here »