European stock markets are on the rise, with the European Central Bank's quantitative easing process offsetting wider worries about Greek debt talks and hawkish monetary policy in the US. The mood boosted Germany's DAX Index over 12,000 for the first time, up 1.3% on the day. (Reuters)

The euro recouped its earlier losses after briefly touching a new 12-year low against the dollar this morning. Further slides in the currency look likely given the diverging monetary policies in the eurozone and U.S. (Seeking Alpha)

Market moving news could come from this week’s Federal Reserve meeting.  Nearly all now believe that Fed policy setters will remove the word "patient" from their statement, opening the door for a potential interest rate increase in June. (Bloomberg)

U.S. consumer confidence was down in early March. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary March reading on the index was 91.2. It was down from the previous month's reading of 95.4. Consumer optimism was down for lower and middle income households although the reading improved for those with incomes in the top third. (CNBC)