The ECB prepares a December hike, and a hold after that

The ECB decided to leave policy unchanged. Although policymakers appear to agree that further tightening is necessary, they decided to await more data. And whereas the policy statement sounded more dovish, Lagarde added some hawkish hints. That mixed messaging suggests that the ECB has not reached the end of the hiking cycle yet, but that it is positioning itself to potentially end the cycle after the next rate hike – without committing to anything.