The ECB is expected to keep rates unchanged at Thursday’s meeting, a move largely priced in; attention is likely to shift to recent French government bond volatility and questions over ECB President Lagarde’s future. The bank has raised rates twice since June and policymakers are expected to restart tightening in coming months to prevent an oil-price shock from feeding into broader prices and wages. Surging sovereign yields have pushed up borrowing costs for households and companies, forcing a t

The ECB is expected to keep rates unchanged at Thursday’s meeting, a move largely priced in; attention is likely to shift to recent French government bond volatility and questions over ECB President Lagarde’s future. The bank has raised rates twice since June and policymakers are expected to restart tightening in coming months to prevent an oil-price shock from feeding into broader prices and wages. Surging sovereign yields have pushed up borrowing costs for households and companies, forcing a trade-off between inflation risks and deteriorating financing conditions. Markets mostly expect the deposit rate to be held at 2.5% and for the ECB to signal a possible hike as early as December. "Given energy price rises could push up the ECB's inflation forecasts, the bar for a December move may be lower," said Oliver Rakau of Oxford Economics.