Still QT plus Renewed Rate Hikes at the ECB despite Surging Bond Yields in the Euro Area - Wolf Street

Despite surging yields of government bonds in the Euro Area, the ECB shed €95 billion ($106 billion) of its QE bonds and loans in Q3, bringing them down to €3.37 trillion. Since the peak of those QE assets in mid-2022, the ECB has now shed 53%, or €3.79 trillion ($4.25 trillion), of its QE assets. Let that sink in for a moment. This is an extreme turn for a central bank that had been uber-dovish for over a decade, with negative interest rates and “whatever it takes” QE – the immortal phrase of then ECB president Mario Draghi in 2012 – that lasted from the Euro Debt Crisis through 2022. Shedding 53% of its QE assets is far more than anyone thought the erstwhile uber-dovish ECB, or any other central bank, could ever shed.