ECB Keeps to Policy Path to End Bond Purchases

Bloomberg.com — The European Central Bank stuck to its plan to end bond purchases as the European Union and U.S. stepped back from a trade war and the currency bloc’s economic expansion remained solid.

The Frankfurt-based institution reiterated it will continue buying 30 billion euros ($35 billion) of assets a month until the end of September, reduce the pace to 15 billion euros from October, and stop additional purchases at the end of the year.

It also pledged to keep interest rates unchanged “at least through the summer of 2019,” and repeated that additional support will come from its policy of reinvesting maturing debt. Attention now turns to President Mario Draghi’s press conference at 2:30 p.m. in Frankfurt. […]