Market News

LONDON (Reuters) -The European Central Bank left interest rates steady at 2%, as expected on Thursday, taking a break after a year of policy easing to wait for clarity over Europe's future trade relations with the United States.

The euro traded at $1.1756 , little changed from where it stood before the ECB statement. Euro area bond yields and European shares remained higher on the day.

Germany's rate sensitive two-year Schatz yield was last up 6 basis points on the day at 1.85%, little changed from levels seen before the decision.

Europe's broad STOXX 600 index was up 0.4% on the day.

COMMENTS:

MARCHEL ALEXANDROVICH, ECONOMIST, SALTMARSH ECONOMICS, LONDON:

"At 2%, rates remain squarely to the middle of the ECB’s 1.5% to 2.5% neutral range. Uncertainty is highly elevated, however, and, if trade tensions escalate, further easing may well be required later in the year to help support business and consumer confidence."

SYLVAIN BROYER, CHIEF EMEA ECONOMIST, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS:

"The policy rate stands comfortably within the estimated neutral range and is effectively at zero in real terms. The labour market is still tight, meaning the unemployment rate is below its equilibrium, and the ECB believes in a Phillips-like relation between unemployment and inflation. On top of that, Germany is about to start a huge re-flation of its economy that will have positive spillovers over the rest of the euro zone and beyond.

"Maybe the next ECB move is not down, as markets believe but the pause can last and the next move might be up."

MATHIEU SAVARY, CHIEF STRATEGIST, BCA RESEARCH:

"The ECB stood pat today, but this pause is not the end of the story. Disinflation is already deeply entrenched across the euro zone. Now, with a stronger euro, looming U.S. tariffs, and intensifying Chinese competition, the region faces a new threat: deflation. The Governing Council may soon find itself forced to cut rates more aggressively than markets currently anticipate."

(Reporting by the Reuters Markets Team; Compiled by Dhara Ranasinghe, editing by Amanda Cooper)