ECB says QE to run until September, or beyond, if necessary

Rate-setters in Frankfurt kept their interest rates for the monetary authority's main refinancing operations, the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40%, respectively.

Significantly, in its policy announcement the ECB also reiterated that its asset purchases, which were then running at €30.0bn a month, would in any case continue until the Governing Council saw "a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its inflation aim."

The GC also indicated that its main interest rates would stay at their then present levels for an extended period of time and well past the horizon of their net asset purchases.

As of 1251 BST, the euro/dollar was trading 0.13% higher at 1.21800.