The European Central Bank, as expected, left its monetary policy measures unchanged Thursday, saying it would continue to purchase assets via its pandemic emergency purchase program at a slower pace than seen in the second and third quarters. The ECB left interest rates unchanged and said it would continue PEPP purchases through at least the end of March. Purchases under the separate Asset Purchase Program will continue at a pace of 20 billion euros ($23.2 billion) a month. ECB President Christine Lagarde will hold a news conference at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, in which economists expect her to push back against market pricing of rate increases in 2022 and 2023.
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William Watts is MarketWatch’s senior markets writer. Based in New York, Watts writes about stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities, including oil. He also writes about global macro issues and trading strategies. Before moving to New York, he reported for MarketWatch from Frankfurt, London and Washington, D.C.
