Hawkish ECB members annoyed at President Lagarde's rate hike plan, as it rules out 50 bps hike - BBG

Joel Frank Independent Analyst

Some of the more hawkish European Central Bank policymakers are annoyed at the rate-hike timeline outlined by central bank President Christine Lagarde, Bloomberg reported on Monday citing sources, given some had preferred a faster option. Lagarde effectively signalled in a blog post on Monday that the bank would bring rates out of negative territory by the end of September, which the irked hawkish ECB policymakers have taken to imply two 25 bps rate hikes, effectively ruling out the option of a 50 bps rate hike in July.

Author

Joel Frank

Independent Analyst

Joel Frank is an economics graduate from the University of Birmingham and has worked as a full-time financial market analyst since 2018, specialising in the coverage of how developments in the global economy impact financial asset

EUR/USD flirts with weekly lows near 1.1770

EUR/USD now comes under further selling pressure, breaking below the 1.1800 support to challenge the area of weekly throughs near 1.1770 on Thursday. The pair’s decline comes in response to marked gains in the US Dollar amid steady geopolitical tensions. Ealier in the day, the ECB’s Lagarde delivered cautious remarks, although the currency remained apathetic.

GBP/USD threatens the 200-day SMA near 1.3440

GBP/USD rapidly leaves behind Wednesday’s strong advance, coming under heavy pressure and retesting the 1.3440 zone, where the critical 200-day SMA is located. Cable’s deep pullback follows the strong gains in the Greenback, while investors continue to pencil in a potential BoE rate cut in March.

Gold trims gains, slips back to around $5,170

Gold is now facing some downside pressure, hovering around the $5,170 region on Thursday. The yellow metal surrenders part of its earlier gains on the back of the resurgence of the buying interest in the Greenback. In the meantime, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to limit the downside potential for now.