The key Euribor bank-to-bank lending rate was unchanged on Friday after the European Central Bank reaffirmed it would keep interest rates low for an extended period of time, but did not indicate it was planning any immediate easing. The ECB kept interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent at its policy meeting on Thursday and confirmed that they will remain there for some while to come and could yet fall further.
ECB President Mario Draghi also said that expectations of rate hikes in money markets were, "according to our assessment unwarranted." Comments from the US Federal Reserve at the end of June that it could soon start reducing its bond purchases had send a shockwave across global markets, pushing up money market rates in Europe, which the ECB countered with forward guidance. On Friday, the three-month Euribor rate, traditionally the main gauge of unsecured bank-to-bank lending, remained at 0.228 percent.
The six-month rate ticked up to 0.341 percent from 0.340 percent while the one-week rate dipped to 0.105 percent from 0.106 percent. The overnight Eonia rate eased back to 0.093 percent after rising to 0.143 percent in the prior session in a usual end-of-the-month jump. Dollar-priced bank-to-bank Euribor lending rates were firmer, with three-month rates rising to 0.49167 percent from 0.49000 percent and one-week rates up at 0.30667 percent from 0.30500 percent.