Markets are currently fully pricing in a rate hike in the eurozone, with a 97% chance of a quarter-point hike, alongside a 3% likelihood of a half-point rate rise, when the bank's governing council meets on Thursday. According to data collected by the London Stock Exchange Group, traders are at present expecting the ECB to raise rates about three times. An upward move this week would mark the first hike since September 2023, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine beginning in February of the previous year drove an energy-price spike. The predicted tightening of monetary policy comes as rising oil prices have ... (full story)