The European Central Bank’s latest policy statement didn’t change very much from June’s. But the absence of one verb from the policy announcement was quickly noticed by investors, sending ripples through European markets.
The ECB’s July statement said interest rates “will be set” at sufficiently restrictive levels. Last month’s statement said rates “will be brought” to restrictive levels.
The lack of new action implied by Thursday’s language was interpreted by investors as a sign that the ECB could be done with interest-rate increases. It boosted its key policy rate Thursday by 0.25 percentage point, or 25 basis points, to a 22-year high, in line with market expectations.
Source: https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-jones-07-27-2023/card/european-bonds-gain-euro-softens-after-ecb-decision-tGjoRpUijGhvbt1TmFUt?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo