economist
05-09-14, 14:03
http://www.ft.com/
Draghi intervention on rates and bonds startles markets
By Claire Jones in Frankfurt and Thomas Hale and Elaine Moore in London
Mario Draghi startled markets on Thursday cutting interest rates to a record low and pledging to buy hundreds of billions of euros of private sector bonds in a dramatic move to save the eurozone from economic stagnation.
The euro fell to its lowest level in over a year – in the currency’s largest one-day decline since late 2011 at the height of the eurozone crisis – after what amounts to the European Central Bank’s last resort short of full-scale quantitative easing.
...
Shorter-term borrowing costs in several European countries dipped below zero in response to the ECB's moves. Yields on two-year bonds issued by governments including Germany, France and Austria are now negative, meaning that investors effectively pay to hold their money in short-term debt.
Draghi intervention on rates and bonds startles markets
By Claire Jones in Frankfurt and Thomas Hale and Elaine Moore in London
Mario Draghi startled markets on Thursday cutting interest rates to a record low and pledging to buy hundreds of billions of euros of private sector bonds in a dramatic move to save the eurozone from economic stagnation.
The euro fell to its lowest level in over a year – in the currency’s largest one-day decline since late 2011 at the height of the eurozone crisis – after what amounts to the European Central Bank’s last resort short of full-scale quantitative easing.
...
Shorter-term borrowing costs in several European countries dipped below zero in response to the ECB's moves. Yields on two-year bonds issued by governments including Germany, France and Austria are now negative, meaning that investors effectively pay to hold their money in short-term debt.