European Central Bank monetary policy decision - 13 December 2018
- Prior decision
- Main refinancing rate 0.00%
- Marginal lending facility 0.25%
- Deposit facility -0.40%
- Confirms that QE programme will be halted this month
- Intends to reinvest, in full, for an extended period of time past the date when it starts raising key rates
- Key rates to remain at present levels at least through the summer of 2019
- In any case, for as long as necessary to ensure continued sustained convergence of inflation to central bank's target of just below 2%
The notable change here is that they are clarifying their "extended period" for reinvestments and that it will continue up until the time when they raise interest rates; though this one is more for bond traders. Apart from that, there isn't much else really for traders to latch on to. The forward guidance remains so that's a bit of a plus considering the weak economic sentiment as of late, but this is very much already expected.
The euro whipsaws on the announcement here but really, there isn't much to go on from the statement. Everything is very much as expected and now all eyes will turn towards Draghi. EUR/USD jumped to a low of 1.1361 before hitting a high of 1.1391 and is now settling back to near unchanged levels of 1.1378 currently.
