European Central Bank policy makers gathered for an emergency meeting to discuss turbulence in the region’s bond markets
Borrowing costs for Italy and other indebted southern European euro members have soared in recent days
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said that the bank intends to raise interest rates at its next policy meeting in July and again in September to help tackle persistent inflation. Photo: ANP/Zuma PressFRANKFURT—The European Central Bank summoned an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss turbulence in the region’s bond markets after a policy shift by the bank triggered a heavy selloff in some government bonds.
News of the meeting drove European stock markets, the euro currency and the prices of sovereign bonds in highly indebted southern Europe higher as investors anticipated new action by the region’s biggest buyer of sovereign debt to prop up its weakest members.