| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 09:00 | Germany | IFO - Business Climate | January | 86.3 | 86.7 | 85.2 |
| 09:00 | Germany | IFO - Current Assessment | January | 88.5 | 88.6 | 87 |
| 09:00 | Germany | IFO - Expectations | January | 84.2 | 84.8 | 83.5 |
EUR strengthened against most of its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday as investors waited for the announcement of the outcomes of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later in the day.
The ECB's monetary policy decision will come at 13:15 GMT, and the Bank’s president Christine Lagarde will comment on it at 13:45 GMT.
While markets do not expect the ECB’s policymakers to change the interest rates at their January meeting, they will pore through the policy statement and Lagarde’s remarks for clues on future moves.
Earlier this month, Christine Lagarde acknowledged that it is likely that interest rate decreases could be approved this summer but emphasised that the ECB’s decisions are data-dependent and noted that some indicators are not anchored at the desired levels.
Despite the ECB chief's message, markets continue to see the first rate reduction to come in April and overall anticipate 130 basis points of cuts from the ECB this year.