Update: Follow the live blog of the ECB Press Conference

In the US, Unemployment Claims, The number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance over the last week, is due to rise up from 367K to 390K.

Pressure is growing on Greece’s politicians to accept harsher measures regarding the labor market and to fully commit to them, also after the elections. Negotiations are at a sensitive point. In the US, the excellent jobs report lowers the chances of QE3 and provided hope for the whole world. It weakened EUR/USD.

 Last week excellent NFP figures were released with a 243,000 job gain and unemployment rate dropping to 8.3% in January from 8.5 in December. Both figures bit expectations leaving a lower chance for QE3. Will we see further improvement this year?

EUR/USD remains stable around the 1.2760, still enjoying the previous gains, until Mario Draghi’s press conference, which could send the euro lower. Stay tuned for a live blog of the event.

In the US, Unemployment Claims, important indicator to value the unemployed that are looking for jobs over the last month, rise of 1K is predicted up to 373K.

Troubles in Unicredit, rumors about issues at Deutsche Bank and the anticipation for a downgrade of France all weigh on the euro, in addition to weak economic figures from all over the continent. Is Draghi ready for QE? On the other side of the Atlantic, the US continues seeing growth in jobs and a drop in unemployment. The IMF has doubts about Greece’s ability to avoid default, and a German politician talks about a need for a bigger haircut. This doesn’t bode well for the euro. The euro was trading in calm waters until Fitch said that the euro-zone is facing a “cataclysmic” collapse if the ECB doesn’t intervene. Positive comments from Merkel regarding the ESM helped. Also a downwards revision of the euro-zone GDP weakened the common currency. All eyes are now on the ECB – see a preview of the highly anticipated decision.

Last week weekly jobless claims dropped to 372K continuing the recovery process in the labor market after 387K claims in the prior week. ADP Non-Farm Payrolls also surprised with a gain of 325K jobs in the private sector, much better than the 176K predicted. These wonderful readings led to the grand finale event, the Non-Farm Payrolls, surging higher than expected with an addition of 200,000 and another drop in the unemployment rate. These positive figures raise expectations for a stronger job market in 2012.

EUR/USD traded just above 1.3380 before the release, at the lower end of the 1.3360 and 1.3420 lines. EUR/USD moves up to 1.34.

Here’s a quick update on technicals, fundamentals and what’s going on in the markets.