LONDON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank cut interest rates for the fourth time this year on Thursday and kept the door open to further easing ahead, as inflation closes in on its goal and the economy remains weak.
The euro was last down 0.2% at $1.047, having traded around $1.049 before the decision. Europe's STOXX 600 share index was last down 0.08%, having traded around 0.16% lower earlier.
Germany's 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone, traded just 1 basis points (bps) higher at 2.14%. Yields move inversely to prices.
COMMENTS:
MARCHEL ALEXANDROVICH, ECONOMIST, SALTMARSH ECONOMICS, LONDON:
"Another 25 bps move from the ECB - its fourth rate cut in this easing cycle. The monetary policy statement repeats that the Governing Council is not pre-committing to a particular rate path."
"However, the new forecasts show core inflation at 1.9% in 2026 and 2027, which suggests that interest rates can continue to be nudged down toward the lower end of the neutral range."
MICHAEL BROWN, SENIOR RESEARCH STRATEGIST, PEPPERSTONE, LONDON:
"Accompanying the rate cut was a policy statement that featured a 'cut and paste' of the policy guidance issued after the October meeting."
"Hence, policymakers again committed to following a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to upcoming decisions, while also stressing that no pre-commitment is being made to a particular rate path."
"These projections ... though, will likely have an incredibly short shelf-life, given that they take no account of recent political tumult in France and Germany, nor do they account for the potential impacts of any trade tariffs imposed by the incoming Trump Administration early in the new year."
(Reporting by EMEA markets team; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Dhara Ranasinghe)
