George Liu's  Instablog

... to stay in line with estimates. In its much anticipated announcement today, the European Central Bank cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to a record low 0.75% today; Citibank had actually stated earlier that investors would hardly be satisfied by a simple 25bp cut; indeed, the euro dropped 1.2% to $1.2382. The ECB also cut its deposit rate 25 basis points to 0%.

Other central banks also dominated the economic news today; more specifically the Bank of England and the People's Bank of China.

The Bank of England today announced a much-expected relaunching of its quantitative easing efforts to the tune of increasing its asset purchase program by £50B to £375B; it left its benchmark lending rate at 0.50%.

The People's Bank of China, on the other hand, surprised investors in the form of lowering the benchmark lending rate 31 basis points and the benchmark deposit rate 25 basis points.