Central Banks

Markets Take Charge With ECB in Catch-Up Mode Over Rate-Cut Bets

  • Investors called this week’s move well before policymakers did
  • Pricing signals doubts in Lagarde’s sanguine view of economy

The European Central Bank’s third interest-rate cut offers traders some assurance — they can probably keep trusting their instincts for now with bets that a flurry of further moves is on the way.

Despite President Christine Lagarde’s well-worn, non-committal language on Thursday pledging “data-dependent” actions on a “meeting-by-meeting” basis, her descriptions of the shifting economic backdrop have essentially opened the door to more aggressive easing in the months ahead.