ECB raises interest rates to fight off inflation jump

BREAKING: The European Central Bank raises interest rates to fight off a jump in inflation, warning price pressures could remain high for an extended period amid energy market and geopolitical tensions.

The ECB just hiked rates for the second time this year. Eurozone inflation has blown past three percent, and Frankfurt is done waiting.

The target is two. The war between the US and Iran keeps pushing oil and gas higher, and the bank now says inflation will stay well above target for an extended period. Their words, not mine. This is the headquarters making that call, and the mood in that building is not relaxed.

Here is what stings for anyone with a mortgage in the euro area. Loans, consumer credit, all of it gets pricier, while growth is pencilled in at a whopping zero point nine percent this year. Christine Lagarde's team is also eyeing gas storage that's below normal heading into winter, which is exactly what you don't want in October.

The last time the ECB had to move this fast was 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine. That's the company this moment keeps.

This is Angel Manalo, reporting for HIT.