ECB to turn more hawkish, EUR/CHF recovering

#OPINIONLEADER#

ECB is widely expected to keep monetary policy unchanged today. But with inflation at a record high of 7.5%, the central bank is also expected to sing a more hawkish tune. There should be an announcement to put a firm end date to the asset purchase program. Interest rate hike will only come “some time” after ending the purchases.

There are talks that putting an end date to asset purchases in June would open up the possibility of a rate hike in September, followed by another in December. But President Christine Lagarde will certainly continue to sound non-committal, but emphasize the importance of graduality, optionality and flexibility for the policy path ahead.

Here are some previews on ECB:

• ECB Preview: Policy Under a Cloud of Uncertainties
• ECB Preview: No Policy Adjustments Expected
• ECB ‘Half Measures’ Unlikely to Stop Euro’s Bleeding
• ECB Preview – Lagarde to Bring September into Play – We Revise Our ECB Call

EUR/CHF’s reaction to ECB decision and press conference is worth some attention. So far, the decline from 1.0400 is not impulsive looking. The cross has also started to lose downside momentum as seen in 4 hour MACD. A break above 1.0204 minor resistance today will suggest that such pull back is finished. More importantly, in this case, rebound from 0.9970 is likely ready to resume through 1.0400. That, if happens, could give Euro a helping hand elsewhere.