Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, January 19:
1. ECB policy decision, Draghi press conference eyed
The European Central Bank's latest interest rate decision is due at 12:45GMT (7:45AM ET) on Thursday, with analysts not expecting any change in policy. Most of the focus will likely be on President Mario Draghi's press conference 45 minutes after the announcement.
The central bank surprised markets at its last meeting by saying it would extend its QE program to end in December 2017, rather than March 2017. However, it reduced its bond buying to €60 billion a month from the current €80 billion.
2. Fed's Yellen to speak again on monetary policy
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks again Thursday evening at 8:00PM ET (01:00GMT Friday) on the economic outlook and monetary policy at Stanford University.
In remarks delivered to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Wednesday, Yellen said it would "makes sense" for the U.S. central bank to gradually lift interest rates with the U.S. economy close to full employment and inflation headed toward the Fed's 2% goal.
The Fed chief said that she and other Fed policymakers expected the central bank to lift its key benchmark short-term rate "a few times a year" through 2019. That pace could change depending on how the outlook for the economy develops, Yellen cautioned.
3. Wall Street eyes Mnuchin testimony
Market players eyed the confirmation hearing of President-elect Donald Trump's Treasury pick, Steven Mnuchin, for any comments the former Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) partner may say about the dollar.
Remarks about China and its currency will also be of big interest when Mnuchin appears before Congress Thursday morning.
4. Oil rises ahead of weekly stockpile data
Oil prices rose on Thursday, bouncing off the prior session's one-week low as market players awaited fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 11:00AM ET (16:00GMT) Thursday, amid analyst expectations for a decline of 342,000 barrels.
This week's report comes out one day later than usual due to Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
U.S. crude was up 31 cents, or about 0.6%, to $51.40, while Brent tacked on 35 cents, or 0.65%, to $54.27 a barrel.
5. Netflix soars 8% after subscriber growth dazzles
Streaming video pioneer Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) added over a third more subscribers than expected in the last quarter of 2016, a sign of success for its ambitious global expansion.
Netflix signed up 7.1 million new subscribers globally, far more than the 5.2 million analysts had expected.
The streaming giant said revenue rose 35.9% to $2.48 billion in the December quarter. Analysts on average had expected $2.47 billion.
Netflix rose about 8% in pre-market trading, adding nearly $5 billion to the company's stock market value.