Trichet’s Exit Faces Roadblock as Fed Clouds Outlook

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is making it harder for Jean-Claude Trichet to lead the European Central Bank out of crisis mode.

Last night’s decision by the Fed to buy an additional $600 billion of Treasuries through June to bolster the U.S. economy may force the ECB to delay the withdrawal of its own stimulus measures, economists said. The Fed’s second round of so-called quantitative easing risks driving the euro higher, threatening Europe’s export-led recovery.