The ECB cut interest rates for the eighth time in the past year and signalled at least a pause in policy easing next month since inflation was now safely back at its 2% target after three years of overshooting.

Europe has succeeded in bringing inflation under control after a surge driven by the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the head of France’s central bank said.

Traders are increasingly confident the European Central Bank will pause its run of interest rate cuts now that the central bank sees itself as well-positioned to deal with global economic uncertainty