Investing.com – The European Central Bank (ECB) embarked on its quantitative easing program (QE) exactly one year ago today, as market participants await further action from ECB governor Mario Draghi on Thursday.
The ECB began asset purchases on March 9, 2015 in an attempt to stave off deflation and move price increases back to its 2% target.
In the last year, the euro zone central bank spent €700 billion via QE, equivalent to €1.3 million per minute or €2,000 per person in the currency region, according to data compiled by Reuters.
However, the latest CPI data showed that the euro zone still returned to deflation in February and experts forecast the ECB to take additional steps on Thursday.
By and large, almost all forecasters predicted a cut to the deposit rate by at least 10 basis points (bp), pushing it even further into negative territory at -0.4%, along with a €10 billion monthly increase to the asset purchase program, although some experts suggested a larger reduction to the deposit rate and a bigger increase in QE.
Nevertheless, investor nerves were reportedly on edge prior to Thursday’s meeting after Draghi disappointed market participants with a lack of an increase in the purchases at the December meeting.
As markets begin the countdown to the event of the week, the euro showed weakness across the board with EUR/USD trading down 0.44% to 1.0961 at 13:33GMT or 8:33AM ET, EUR/GBP losing 0.41% to 0.7741 and EUR/JPY dropping 0.39% to 123.52.
European stocks however traded broadly higher with the European benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 rising 1.33%, the DAX advancing 1.30%, the CAC 40 gaining 1.19% and the FTSE 100 trailing with gains 0.71%.
As the clock ticks down, markets could enter wait-and-see mode until the publication on Thursday of the ECB’s monetary policy decision at 12:45 GMT or 7:45AM ET to be followed by the explanations in Draghi’s press conference at 13:30 GMT or 8:30AM ET.