The euro rose today against the dollar after the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) indicated that interest rates could rise again in December, strengthening confidence in markets.
© Reuters
29/10/2026
by
Lusa
O euro rose today against the dollar after the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) suggested that interest rates would rise again in December, stressing that it has instruments to contain disorderly movements on the markets.
At 18:20 (Lisbon time), the euro followed $1.1170, when on Wednesday, at the same time, it negotiated at $1.1134.
The ECB today maintained interest rates, but Christine Lagarde implied — a few hours after announcing that it would cease office on 7 February — that they will rise again in December, although the profitability of France's debt has risen sharply.
“The direction of the trip is clear,” Lagarde said when asked about a possible increase in interest rates in December and whether the situation in France could prevent this increase.
Lagarde sent a message to the markets, reminding them that the ECB now has “tools to contain disorderly and unwanted market movements”, which means massive bond sales and a sharp increase in a country’s debt income.
The Governing Council “decided today to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged”.
With this decision, interest rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility remain at 2,50%, 2,65% and 2,90% respectively.
The ECB points out that energy prices have continued to rise since the last meeting, “representing risks upwards towards inflation prospects and downwards towards growth prospects”.
Still, and although the effects of the energy shock “have not yet been fully felt”, the ECB notes that the underlying inflation has remained broadly stable, with no “significant wage response at this stage”.
The Governing Council stressed that it is committed to the definition of monetary policies to ensure that inflation stabilises at 2% over the medium term.
Divisives..................today....
Euro/dollar...............1,1170.............1,1134
Euro/libre...............0.83551.........0.83720
Euro/yene...176,36....................176,25
Dollar/yene.........................157,38.......................158,30