The European Central Bank Holds Interest Rates Steady, Awaiting Progress in US-EU Trade Negotiations

On July 24, the European Central Bank (ECB) maintained its key interest rate at 2.00% as expected on Thursday, awaiting clearer signals on the direction of EU-US trade relations. With current inflation having fallen back to the 2.00% target level, and interest rates having been lowered from 4.00% to 2.00% since June last year, the policy pressure facing the ECB has been greatly alleviated. The ECB stated that it will continue to adhere to the "meeting-by-meeting" approach, will not pre-set the interest rate path, and all decisions will be based on the latest data.

The statement said that the latest information is broadly consistent with previous judgments on the inflation outlook, domestic price pressures continue to ease, and wage growth is slowing. The market is still betting on at least one more rate cut later this year. Market focus is shifting to President Lagarde's press conference later, where she is expected to face intensive questioning about whether to continue cutting interest rates in the future, the strength of the euro exchange rate, and the impact of tariffs. [BlockBeats]