Central Banks
Lagarde’s Talk of Summer ECB Cut Sees Traders Bet on April
- Remarks come after officials left deposit rate at 4% again
- Markets took dovish message from Lagarde’s news conference
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President Christine Lagarde’s muted affirmation that the European Central Bank may begin lowering interest rates from around mid-2024 was taken by markets as a sign that earlier moves are very much in play.
While she stood by remarks from Davos that borrowing costs could be trimmed from the summer, traders stepped up bets on cuts — pricing an 90% chance of a reduction in April and 141 basis points of easing across the whole year, up from 130 basis points before.