ECB faces tough decision in October as equities begin to wilt under high interest rates - EUbusiness.com

The European Central Bank’s monetary policy committee will meet on October 29 to decide whether to hike rates for a second successive month or keep them unchanged. Expectations are high for the latter, with prediction market platforms pointing to a 91% chance that there will be no hike in October. That seems to be the most popular view of the markets ahead of this month’s key Central Bank decisions. Yet, rising inflation continues to challenge that view. In September, euro area inflation rose to 3.8% , compared to 3.2% in August, largely impacted by rising energy prices, which represented an 18.8% rise in the harmonized index of consumer prices, rising from 14.3% in August.