Europe's monetary policy regulator could have sparked a big sell-off in European shares had it shied away from a 0.5 percentage points rise which the market had expected earlier this week.
Accordingly, some market participants began reassessing the prospects of a half-point interest rate rise this week.Nowhere was this more apparent than in the market for eurozone government bonds.
The yield - an implied borrowing cost - on two-year German government bonds plunged from 3.277% last Friday morning to as low as 2.373% this morning. Similarly, the yield on two-year French government bonds slid from 3.1788% last Friday night to as low as 2.5080% on Wednesday afternoon.Little choice for an ECB in a bindHad it shied away today from a half-point rise, which the market had been expecting earlier this week, it might have prompted some market participants to wonder what the ECB knew about the stability of the eurozone banking sector.
Instead, they chose to nod to the upheaval in banking stocks in the accompanying statement, adding:"The governing council is monitoring current market tensions closely and stands ready to respond as necessary to preserve price stability and financial stability in the euro area.
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