Trichet Signals Interest Rate Move After June; Euro Plunges

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled the bank will wait until after June to raise interest rates again, wrong-footing some investors who had expected a quicker move to fight inflation. The euro plunged.

“We are never pre-committed and we can increase rates whenever we judge it appropriate,” Trichet said at a press conference in Helsinki today after the ECB left its benchmark interest rate at 1.25 percent. He refrained from using the phrase “strong vigilance” that would have signaled a June rate increase, saying only that the ECB will monitor inflation risks “very closely.”