We have flagged some dovish risks around the ECB reiterating that monetary policy is “in a good place” alongside Thursday’s interest rate decision, with the Bank’s updated economic projections set to provide an extra layer of input for markets to trade off.
- Sell-side notes that we have read generally point to caution when it comes to the idea of a swift extension of last week’s hawkish repricing in EUR STIRs, with some looking to fade the move:
- Bank of America: We stay received Mar ‘26 ECB. Our economists still expect a 25bp cut in March ‘26 vs. market pricing of less than 1bp of cumulative cuts by then. Risks are stronger than expected growth or inflation.
- Goldman Sachs: We do not think EUR front-end steepness out to 2y1y is excessive given the shift in momentum in German activity and elevated long-dated forwards. But the repricing in nominal rates has been abrupt and has outrun signals from traded inflation. In that sense, the key determinant of returns in front-end longs relates to whether and how much the cyclical improvement in Germany - that we expect - is convincing enough to shift the distribution of risk in Euro area inflation. We do think that better cyclical data will floor the inflation distribution and will see EUR core yields drift higher - we remain short Bunds vs. Gilts - but presuming President Lagarde falls short of endorsing hike pricing, risks are tilted towards a consolidation in front-end pricing in the near term.
- Natixis: We continue to expect the ECB to maintain its “we are in a good place” stance, while the market believes that “stability” warrants a risk of a hike next year. We therefore prefer a Euribor Mar ‘26/Dec ‘26 flattener because we think that Lagarde will probably halt the trend, even if GDP growth projections are likely to be revised upward.