A rare moment of calm in Europe’s stock market greets Mario Draghi as the European Central Bank meets this week on interest rates.
Volatility hasn’t been this low in the days preceding an ECB meeting since the start of quantitative easing in 2015, lending cover for the central-bank president should he choose to leave policy mostly alone, as economists forecast. The VStoxx Index trades 23 percent below its average before the ECB’s last 10 decisions, a level of tranquility that has little precedent since interest rates were cut and bond purchases begun last year.
