ECB Has Missed Its Chance to Raise Interest Rates, HSBC Says

HSBC has a warning for those expecting the European Central Bank to start tightening monetary policy: the institution has missed its opportunity.

Recent data “have been dismal,” Simon Wells, an economist at HSBC in London, said in a note to clients. The latest figures on Tuesday showed Germany, the euro zone’s biggest economy, only narrowly dodged a recession. France is slowing and Italy has stagnated. The only major economy bucking the trend is Spain, Wells said.