European bond yields fell and the region’s single currency climbed on Wednesday as the European Central Bank announced it would hold an emergency meeting to “discuss current market conditions.”
The Governing Council’s an “ad-hoc” meeting comes the same day that the Federal Reserve will announce a policy decision, with many expecting an interest rate hike of 75 basis points.
Expected to be front and center of the ECB’s discussions are soaring costs of borrowing in Europe, notably since the central bank announced at its recent June gathering that its key interest rate would rise 25 basis points in July, and possibly 50 basis points in September.
The yield on Italy’s 10-year government bond TMBMKIT-10Y, 3.893% tumbled 26 basis points to 3.908% on Wednesday, but that’s against a surge that has taken it from 1.195% at the start of the year. The yield on Germany’s 10-year bund TMBMKDE-10Y, 1.712% slipped 1 basis point to 1.74%, from around -0.05% at the start of the year.
The euro EURUSD, +0.60% surged 0.6% to $ 1.0479, though the single currency has lost 2.3% so far this year.