European Central Bank

U.S. equity index futures point to a higher open, having rebounded some 10 points off session lows with the VIX stuck on the edge between single and double digits, while European and Asian shares decline as investors assess central banks’ shift toward tighter monetary policy and concern over tax overhaul ahead of final plan. 

It has been a groggy end to what is still set to be a third week of gains for MSCI’s global stock index following more upbeat data and signs that central banks including the Federal Reserve will keep treading carefully with interest rate hikes.

While the rest of Draghi's presser was uneventful, the two things investors were looking for were the ECB's revised GDP and inflation forecasts. And while the first saw a modest improvement across the board relative to the September forecast as follows:

Submitted by RanSquawk

ECB Monetary Policy Decision Due At 12:45 GMT, 13:45 CET, 07:45 EDT, On Thursday 14th December 2017, Press Conference Due At 13:30 GMT, 14:30 CET, 08:30 EDT

One day after the Fed hiked rates by 25 bps as part of Janet Yellen's final news conference, it is central bank bonanza day, with rate decisions coming from the rest of the world's most important central banks, including the ECB, BOE, SNB, Norges Bank, HKMA, Turkey and others.

As we noted a few months ago, ever since the ECB launched its sovereign debt QE, initially known as PSPP, in March 2015 and later expanded to include corporate debt, or CSPP, in June 2016, the world's biggest hedge fund central bank has created enough money out of thin air to purchase bonds with no consideration for price to grow its balance sheet, i.e. investment portfolio, by nearly €2 trillion.