Comments from prepared remarks from ECB's Lagarde
The prepared text from ECB Lagarde says:
- ECB area growth remains weak
- weakness has been mainly due to global factors
- world economy outlook remains sluggish and uncertain
- the ECB is ambitious to do, and to play its part in accordance with its mandate
- consumption is held up fairly well
- central bank digital currency would allow citizens to use central bank money directly in their daily transactions
- depending on its design, a central bank digital currency could pose risks
- the relative resilience of services so far is the key reason why employment has not been affected by the global manufacturing slowdown
- governing councils decisions in September showed that it was alert to that potential side effects of monetary policy
- the strategy review will be guided by 2 principles, thorough analysis and an open mind
- it is premature to venture here into debate about the precise scope direction and timeline of our strategy review
- ECB remains resolute in its commitment to deliver on its mandate
- monetary policy strategy will start in the near future
- question that is common is how to best define the medium-term objective of monetary policy, so as to ensure that expectations are firmly anchored
The EURUSD has moved up to the next target at the 50% retracement at 1.10386. The 200 hour MA at 1.1028 remains close risk for the longs.