ECB Press Conference April 4, 2012

The April 4th ECB Press Conference release revealed a resolve by Europe's Governing Council to ensure that "commitments under the Stability and Growth Pact" are "fully honoured" by governments and "weaknesses in competitiveness forcefully addressed" (emphasis added by me). "National policy-makers need to fully meet their responsibilities to ensure fiscal sustainability, to increase the adjustment capacity of product and labour markets, to enhance productivity and competitiveness, and to ensure the soundness of their financial system. In particular, countries which have suffered losses in cost competitiveness need to ensure sufficient wage adjustment and foster productivity growth."

This press conference was held to announce that they were holding their key ECB interest rates unchanged. "The information that has become available since the beginning of March broadly confirms our previous assessment. Inflation rates are likely to stay above 2% in 2012, with upside risks prevailing. Over the policy-relevant horizon, we expect price developments to remain in line with price stability. Consistent with this picture, the underlying pace of monetary expansion remains subdued. Survey indicators for economic growth have broadly stabilised at low levels in the early months of 2012, and a moderate recovery in activity is expected in the course of the year. The economic outlook remains subject to downside risks."

At the time of writing this post, this is the World market reaction, thus far, today (the losses today have been added to those incurred after the release on April 3rd of the minutes from the last Fed meeting):