The FTSE 100 finished 30.44 points lower at 6,691.34, falling 0.45% on the day.
Central banks were in focus today with the Bank of England and ECB both voting to leave interest rates unchanged, as widely expected. However, the following press conference with Draghi garnered the most attention given the surprise dip in inflation to 0.8% revealed earlier this week.
Risks still remain, says Draghi
ECB President Mario Draghi warned today that risks still remain to the Eurozone recovery, including political, economic and financial. He said that the recovery was taking place but is "weak and modest", meaning that the ECB will need to maintain an accommodative stance "as long as needed".
He said that the ECB expects a prolonged period of low inflation before prices begin to gradually rise close to its target of 2%. A drop in inflation to a four-year low of 0.7% in October prompted the ECB to cut rates in November.
However, as Market Analyst David Madden from IG explained: "Equities drift[ed] lower as Mario Draghi fail[ed] to convince the market that he can save the Eurozone from sinking into the abyss."
Draghi attempted to reassure that the situation in the Eurozone was very different from Japanese deflationary environment in the 1990s.
Madden said: "On the surface all seems well in the region, but simply mentioning the Japanese crisis of the 1990's seems to have sent stocks sliding. Mr Draghi tried to reassure the market he has a few cards up his sleeve, but actions speak louder than words."
Source: LiveCharts
Central banks were in focus today with the Bank of England and ECB both voting to leave interest rates unchanged, as widely expected. However, the following press conference with Draghi garnered the most attention given the surprise dip in inflation to 0.8% revealed earlier this week.
Risks still remain, says Draghi
ECB President Mario Draghi warned today that risks still remain to the Eurozone recovery, including political, economic and financial. He said that the recovery was taking place but is "weak and modest", meaning that the ECB will need to maintain an accommodative stance "as long as needed".
He said that the ECB expects a prolonged period of low inflation before prices begin to gradually rise close to its target of 2%. A drop in inflation to a four-year low of 0.7% in October prompted the ECB to cut rates in November.
However, as Market Analyst David Madden from IG explained: "Equities drift[ed] lower as Mario Draghi fail[ed] to convince the market that he can save the Eurozone from sinking into the abyss."
Draghi attempted to reassure that the situation in the Eurozone was very different from Japanese deflationary environment in the 1990s.
Madden said: "On the surface all seems well in the region, but simply mentioning the Japanese crisis of the 1990's seems to have sent stocks sliding. Mr Draghi tried to reassure the market he has a few cards up his sleeve, but actions speak louder than words."
Source: LiveCharts
