Christine Lagarde to step down as ECB president in February

Christine Lagarde has announced she will step down as President of the European Central Bank in February, according to the Financial Times. The transition introduces a leadership change at the institution that sets policy rates for the euro area, where market pricing of the ECB's reaction function is closely tied to the President's public guidance on inflation and the path of rates. Euro-denominated government bonds, particularly the French and Italian curves that trade sensitively to ECB communication, and the euro itself are the most directly exposed, as traders reassess the expected personality, credibility and dovish-or-hawkish tilt of a successor. Traders will watch the nomination process and the identity of the candidate put forward by euro area governments, alongside the next Governing Council inflation projections and the flash HICP release, for signals on whether policy continuity is likely.

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