The European Central Bank pledged on Thursday to keep its aggressive stimulus policy at least until the end of the year, arguing that inflation pressures in the Eurozone remained weak despite expectations of faster price growth.
U.S. economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter as previously reported, with robust consumer spending offset by downward revisions to business and government investment.
Other than 2013 during a period of massive QE stimulus every yearly cycle low in the stock market has at least retraced back to the 75 week moving average.
The European Central Bank kept its super-easy monetary policy unchanged as expected on Thursday and its president, Mario Draghi, told critics of his stimulus path to be patient and wait for the euro zone's recovery to take firm hold.
The Bank of Japan is likely to hold off on expanding stimulus next week despite an expected downgrade in its price forecast that may show Governor Haruhiko Kuroda won't see inflation hit his 2% target before his tenure ends in 2018.
Bank of Japan policymakers signaled on Wednesday they had raised the threshold for further easing after last month's policy revamp—keeping their pledge to expand stimulus if needed, but only to protect the economy from external shocks.
