Lagarde speech: We will continue to follow a data-dependent approach

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is testifying before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) of the European Parliament on Thursday.

Key quotes

Weakness in activity is broad-based across sectors, extending from construction and manufacturing to services.

Incoming data continue to signal subdued activity in the near term.

The ECB’s forward-looking wage tracker continues to signal strong wage pressures.

Wage agreements indicate some levelling off in the last quarter of 2023.

The current disinflationary process is expected to continue, but the governing council needs to be confident that it will lead us sustainably to our 2% target.

We will continue to follow a data-dependent approach.

The latest data confirm the ongoing disinflation process and is expected to bring us gradually further down over 2024.

The latest data confirm the ongoing disinflation process and is expected to bring us gradually further down over 2024

We considered that the incoming information was broadly in line with our december assessment.

ECB's forward-looking wage tracker continues to signal strong wage pressures, but agreements indicate some levelling off.

The governing council needs to be confident that it will lead us sustainably to our 2% target.

Wage pressures for 2024 hinge particularly on the outcome of ongoing or upcoming negotiation rounds.

Market reaction to ECB Lagarde’s comments

Lagarde’s comments fail to move the needle around the Euro, as EUR/USD is keeping its range at around 1.0730, up 0.06% on the day.

Euro price today

The table below shows the percentage change of Euro (EUR) against listed major currencies today. Euro was the strongest against the Pound Sterling.

	USD	EUR	GBP	CAD	AUD	JPY	NZD	CHF
USD		0.01%	0.18%	0.02%	0.04%	-0.29%	0.05%	-0.11%
EUR	-0.01%		0.15%	0.00%	0.02%	-0.30%	0.04%	-0.11%
GBP	-0.18%	-0.19%		-0.18%	-0.16%	-0.48%	-0.14%	-0.29%
CAD	-0.03%	-0.01%	0.17%		0.01%	-0.31%	0.02%	-0.13%
AUD	-0.02%	-0.02%	0.17%	-0.01%		-0.33%	0.03%	-0.12%
JPY	0.28%	0.30%	0.45%	0.30%	0.30%		0.33%	0.18%
NZD	-0.06%	-0.04%	0.14%	-0.03%	-0.02%	-0.33%		-0.15%
CHF	0.10%	0.11%	0.28%	0.12%	0.14%	-0.19%	0.15%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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