Barclays ETN+ FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN Series B [FLEU] Stock Forecast

The ECB will almost surely keep rates on hold at the December meeting. The question is to what extent it will align with the market's aggressive pricing for rate cuts in 2024.

The ECB hike cycle seems over, but the shockwaves of tightening will still shape the eurozone economy in 2024. Traditional lags in transmission are now accompanied by longer ones in average interest burden increases, potentially extending the impact of tightening.

Next week's challenge for the European Central Bank is how to keep all options open without sounding too dovish but also not too detached from reality. The weak macro economic backdrop no longer justifies rate hikes, even for the hawks.

Rising wages and higher incomes are boosting Europe's economic recovery, but policymakers may face challenges due to population aging and shrinking workforce. Demographics and shorter working weeks mean employers face fierce competition to find qualified workers and must pay more to retain them.

If anything, developments since the September meeting have made it even easier for the European Central Bank to pause at its next meeting. As much as the ECB has tried to keep the door to further rate hikes open since the September decision, recent developments have clearly complicated this position.

The third-quarter was an average-to-downbeat period for investors, mainly due to rising rates.

The ECB just announced its tenth consecutive policy rate hike since July last year, hiking all interest rates by 25bp. Higher inflation and inflation forecasts look like the main drivers of the hike.

Markets are torn. Will the ECB hike this week or not?

The CPI for services spiked by 5.6% in July, compared to a year ago, up from 5.4% in June and 5.0% in May, another record in the data going back to 1997, according to Eurostat today. “Core” CPI (without food and energy products that consumers buy) remained at 5.5% in July, same as in June, and up from 5.3% in May.

The European Central Bank looks set to hike rates by 25bp on Thursday. With the bleak economic outlook and disinflation gaining traction, however, the end to rate hikes is near.

Barclays ETN+ FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN Series B is a stock and trading under the symbol FLEU

Barclays ETN+ FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN Series B stock price is $23.9601 today.

Yes, Barclays ETN+ FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN Series B is a publicly traded company.