Analyst: European Central Bank expected to hold interest rates steady this week and maintain a hawkish bias.

Nuveen global investment strategist Laura Cooper said in a report that following June’s interest rate hike, the European Central Bank (ECB) will likely hold interest rates steady at this week’s meeting while maintaining a hawkish stance. Cooper noted that if renewed tensions drive energy prices higher, the ECB will remain open to further policy tightening. She added that inflation is milder than feared, the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) pricing subindex shows almost no signs of reaccelerating, and producer price data confirms upstream cost pressures are easing. “These factors provide a reason for holding steady this month,” she said. The complication is that commodity supplies are being disrupted again, which could reignite energy price pressures just as the ECB gains confidence in its inflation decline path.