European Central Bank interest rate decision, December 2024

Major European bourses started the trading day in positive territory, as investors awaited the European Central Bank’s interest rate decision.

France’s CAC 40 index was around 0.15% higher at 8:54 a.m. London time, while Germany’s DAX added 0.16% and the Italian FTSE MIB rose by 0.54%.

The pan-European Stoxx 600, which also includes companies from countries that are not governed by the ECB, such as the U.K., had a muted start to the day and was last 0.09% higher.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The Swiss National Bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points, exceeding expectations of a smaller trim amid an ongoing tussle with depressed inflation and a strong Swiss franc.

The cut takes the bank’s main rate to 0.5%. More than 85% of economists polled by Reuters had forecast the bank would implement a 25-basis-point cut.

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— Ruxandra Iordache

Revisions to the European Central Bank’s inflation projections could create the opportunity for a faster paced rate cutting cycle, Chris Turner, global head of markets at ING, said in a note Thursday.

“We think there could be some downward revision to growth and perhaps even inflation forecasts today,” he said, noting that the focus would be on whether the ECB reduces its inflation forecasts.

In its previous projections in September, the central bank forecast headline inflation would come in at 2.5% in 2024, 2.2% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026.

“Dropping the 2025 forecast closer to 2.0% could potentially lay the path for an accelerated easing cycle,” Turner said.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The European Central Bank is set to cut rates by 25 basis points on Thursday and signal further reductions to come, teeing up Europe for stronger economic growth in 2025, according to Goldman Sachs.

“We do think the ECB will go gradually … but I do think there’s going to be some acknowledgement today that rates are headed into a lower direction,” Chief European Economist Jari Stehn told CNBC ahead of the decision.

“Lower rates will help somewhat with savings and boosting consumer spending, and that is one reason why we do think Europe will grow next year,” he added.

Headline inflation in the euro area may have cooled near to the European Central Bank’s 2% target in recent months, but core inflation — excluding the effects of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco — has held at 2.7% for three straight months.

Services inflation has meanwhile held stubbornly near 4% through the latter half of this year, as negotiated wage growth — another concern for the inflationary outlook — rose to 5.42% in the third quarter from 3.54% in the prior period.

In its most recent forecast in September, ECB staff macroeconomic projections put average euro area inflation at 2.5% in 2024, 2.2% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026. Those forecasts were unchanged from June.

— Jenni Reid

The European Central Bank will debate whether to cut by 25 or 50 basis points on Thursday, but will ultimately settle on the smaller move, several economists told CNBC.

A key point of discussion is likely to relate to how low interest rates need to go to become “neutral” — the point at which monetary policy is neither stimulating nor restricting economic growth.

Last month, influential policymaker Isabel Schnabel told Bloomberg that rates were getting “closer to neutral territory,” which she estimated at 2% to 3%, and cautioned against going too far below that.

However, more dovish members such as French central bank Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau have continued to say that any size of a cut should be an option in December, and that moving rates below neutral — into accommodative territory — could be needed if growth remains subdued and inflation falls below target.

“This is the ECB, so they always move very slowly… part of the problem is the ECB council is very divided,” Fabio Balboni, senior European economist at HSBC, previously told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe,” forecasting “very lively debate” at the December meeting and a 25-basis-point decision.

Weak economic data points including German retail sales will all be under consideration, along with disagreement over whether the fight against inflation is “not quite done,” Balboni said.

Bank of America Global Research strategists said in a note on Tuesday that the ECB was likely to cut by 25 basis points at every meeting, including in December, until September 2025.

“With an economy that will be growing at or below trend for most of 2025, we think it will be hard for the ECB to skip a meeting until the [deposit facility] falls slightly below where it sees the neutral rate (2%), to where we see it (1.5%),” they said.

— Jenni Reid