By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
FRANKFURT, March 11 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank said on Thursday that it was going to boost its bond purchases over the next quarter, in a likely attempt to keep borrowing costs low for a euro zone economy still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ECB did not make changes to policy, having nearly a trillion euros of firepower left to buy bonds and keep credit cheap for debt-laden governments, households and firms across the 19 countries that share the euro currency.
But it sought to dispel investor doubts about its resolve to stem any further rally in bond yields, which have risen in recent weeks due largely to external factors such as higher inflation expectations in the United States, rising oil prices and supply disruptions related to the pandemic.
Italian yields, risk premium fall to 3-week lows Bank shares tumble (Adds details, comments)
March 11 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields and bank shares fell after the European Central Bank said it would conduct emergency bond purchases at a significantly higher pace over the next quarter to combat a recent rise in bond yields.
The decision assuaged some doubts around the bank’s resolve to calm market nerves and support indebted governments through the pandemic after it barely increased the pace of its pandemic emergency bond purchases (PEPP) in recent weeks, despite a sharp rise in global bond yields.
Texas lawmakers on Thursday found themselves on the horns of a power market dilemma: expect lawsuits from utilities and traders if they retroactively cut cold-snap electricity prices, or "cascading bankruptcies" if they do not.
The Spanish government's direct aid to small and medium-sized companies, to be approved by the cabinet on Friday, will likely total 7 billion euros ($8.4 billion), up from a previously-proposed 5 billion, a government source told Reuters.