Analysts: Economic Weakness Sparks ECB About-Face

The European Central Bank presented a whopping set of monetary policy initiatives Thursday that sent economists and analysts on Twitter into a tailspin.

Here are some of their quick reactions as the euro tumbled in reaction to cuts in ECB growth and inflation forecasts, as well as new cheap loans for banks.

• Allianz chief economic adviser Mohamed El-Erian called it an ECB flip-flop similar to the one seen by the Federal Reserve in January.
• Piet Christiansen, senior ECB analyst at Danske Bank, called it dovish.
• Arkera FX and global macro strategist Viraj Patel agreed the tone was dovish but said it is likely a one-off adjustment and that the real losers are peripheral European currencies, like the Swedish krona.
• BlackRock portfolio manager Rupert Harrison called the decision a reality check for ECB President Mario Draghi.
• Nordea chief analyst Anders Svendsen wanted more from the ECB.
• His colleague at Nordea Markets, global FX strategist Andreas Steno Larsen, went against market sentiment and advised buying the euro on today’s statement.
• Claus Vistesen, macroeconomist for Pantheon Macroeconomics, thinks today’s decision may hamstring Draghi’s successor.
• Nick Kounis, head of macro and financial markets research at ABN Amro, said this may not be the last dovish message from ECB.