LONDON (Reuters) – Trade in euro zone money markets on Thursday suggested investors were positioning for a rate rise from the European Central Bank as early as October, a day after U.S. markets ramped up rate hike bets after the release of hawkish Federal Reserve minutes.
Money market futures dated to the ECB’s October meeting, showed a 10 basis point rate hike was almost fully priced in.
Markets also priced in 15 basis points worth of tightening by December, versus around 13 bps on Wednesday.
The move in euro zone money markets follows a jump in U.S. rate hike expectations. Minutes of the Fed’s December meeting, published on Wednesday, hinted the U.S. central bank might raise rates as early as March, when analysts had thought May or June were more likely.
(Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe; Editing by Saikat Chatterjee)
