Mario Draghi

Financial markets are looking to the European Central Bank (ECB) to open the cash floodgates this week after consumer price data showed the 18-country eurozone is flirting with deflation, analysts said.

Eurozone inflation dropped to a fresh five-year low in August, data showed on Friday, something likely to concern the European Central Bank but not force it into immediate policy action.

Consumer prices in the 18 countries using the euro rose by just 0.3 percent year-on-year in August, the smallest increase since October 2009, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said.

By Angeline Benoit & Alessandro Speciale

Euro-area economic confidence fell more than forecast, Spanish consumer prices dropped the most in five years and German unemployment unexpectedly rose in a burst of data backing Mario Draghi’s warning that more stimulus may be needed.

By Marius Zaharia

Spanish inflation came in at minus 0.5 percent, higher than expectations of minus 0.6 percent but lower than in July. German inflation due at 1200 GMT was expected to be unchanged at 0.8 percent.

By Simon Kennedy & Alessandro Speciale

Mario Draghi just pushed the European Central Bank closer to quantitative easing.

With euro-area data this week likely to show the weakest inflation since 2009, the ECB president used the high-powered central-banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to warn that investor bets on prices have “exhibited significant declines.”

By Lukanyo Mnyanda

European government bonds surged, pushing yields from Germany to Spain down to records, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gave his strongest signal yet officials are moving closer to quantitative easing.

Spanish government bonds rose, with 10-year yields approaching a record low, amid speculation European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will reiterate the need for accommodative monetary policy.

By Alessandro Speciale, Jana Randow & Joshua Robinson

Mario Draghi’s promise of cheap cash for banks betting on the euro-area revival is losing its allure.

By Anchalee Worrachate

Sentiment in the foreign-exchange market is so bearish toward the euro that it’s bullish.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will meet the EU Commission’s incoming president, Jean-Claude Juncker, in Luxembourg on Wednesday, an ECB spokesman said on Tuesday.

The spokesman did not reveal what was on the agenda for the meeting, which will take place a day before the eurozone central bank’s governors gather for their regular monthly policy meeting in Frankfurt.