BRENT CRUDE FUTURES SETTLE AT $122.90/BBL, UP1.02 PCT The material has been provided by Instaforex Company - instaforex.com

U.S. CRUDE OIL FUTURES SETTLE AT $106.28/BBL, UP 0.03 PCT The material has been provided by Instaforex Company - instaforex.com

News

• US retail gasoline demand rose 3.4 pct in w/e Feb 17 as motorists filled up their tanks - MasterCard SpendingPulse
• Retail gasoline demand rose by 3.4 pct compared with the previous week, despite of a rise in average gasoline price by 3 cents/ gallon to $3.53.
• However, demand was 6.4 pct lower than a year ago on higher pump prices, which rose12.1 pct from year ago period
• The four-week moving average demand dropped 5.7 pct compared with last year, the 48th consecutive year-over-year decline.

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U.S. RETAIL GASOLINE DEMAND LAST WEEK DOWN 6.4 PCT YR/YR, UP 3.4 PCT WK/WK -MASTERCARD The material has been provided by Instaforex Company - instaforex.com

ARGENTINA : Q4 UNEMPLOYMENT 6.7 PCT VS 7.3 PCT Q4 2010; 7.2 PCT IN Q3 2011 The material has been provided by Instaforex Company - instaforex.com

News

• White House on Wednesday criticized Iran over IAEA's failure, saying it again showed Tehran's refusal to abide by its international obligations over its nuclear program.
• Jay Carney also said US was continuing to evaluate Iran's intentions after it sent a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton last week

Quotes

 "This particular action by Iran suggests that they have not changed their behavior when it comes tot abiding by their international obligations."

Jay Carney, Spokesman, White House 

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FITCH RATES LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 2012 REFUNDING COPS 'A+'; OUTLOOK STABLE The material has been provided by Instaforex Company - instaforex.com

News

• Commonwealth on Wednesday suspended Maldives from its democracy and human rights watchdog and called for elections by end of2012
• Commonwealth officials meeting in London stopped short of suspending Maldives from the 54-member group of nations
• Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed resigned on Feb. 7 and Mohamed Waheed Hussain Manik, previously vice president,
• Waheed Hussain has taken over power and has suggested that elections could be brought forward from the scheduled date of Oct 2013.
• But the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group said it was too soon to say whether the transfer of power was lawful.

Quotes

   "It was not possible in the allotted time to determine conclusively the constitutionality of the resignation of President Nasheed."

CMAG Statement

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Yesterday, EUR/USD traders were looking for a new equilibrium after the Greek bailout deal. There was no euphoria on the agreement. On the stock market and also in EUR/USD there was even some kind of "buy the rumor sell the fact" reaction. EUR/USD didn't succeed a test of the 1.3322 range top. The markets continued all day to show worries and reacted to rumors.

One of the weakest performers today was the GBP as Bank of England Meeting Minutes revealed that two members voted for a larger expansion of the bond purchase program than the £50 billion the bank agreed to in early February.