European Central Bank Set to Hold Rates as Markets Await Lagarde’s Guidance

The European Central Bank (ECB) is widely expected to maintain its key interest rates at current levels for the fifth consecutive meeting, leaving the main refinancing operations, marginal lending facility, and deposit facility rates at 2.15%, 2.4%, and 2%, respectively. Following the decision, President Christine Lagarde will explain the reasoning, likely reiterating her mantra that monetary policy is in a "good place" and adopting a meeting-by-meeting, wait-and-see approach. This stance is supported by recent positive macroeconomic data, including 0.3% Q-o-Q growth in the Euro area for the last quarter of the year and inflation cooling to 1.7% in January. The upcoming announcement is generally viewed as a non-event, with the ECB expected to remain hawkish without setting a fixed path for future rates. Ahead of the decision, the EUR/USD pair is trading stably above 1.1800, with technical analysis suggesting limited downside risk for the pair.

(Source：BeInCrypto)