ECB Governing Council Unlikely to Announce New QE Measures Thursday

The ECB Governing Council likely will not make any announcement about additional economic stimulus measures in Europe at a press conference Thursday, according to one market expert. The ECB Governing Council has been discussing the European economy this week during meetings held in Malta. While the ECB could extend the period for quantitative easing, or increase the amount of QE, it's unlikely they will do either, according to Jasper Lawler, Market Analyst with CMC Markets. 'There's only so much buying they can do,' said Lawler. 'The European bond market is smaller than that of the U.S. I think they risk crowding out the rest of the market if they increase the size of the program too much.' Lawler said one option for the ECB would be to change the types of bonds they are buying, adding more corporate bonds. 'The one thing that would really kick things off to the races, if they announced buying outright equities something like the Bank of Japan did, that would really send markets flying,' said Lawler. 'But I think that's a pretty outside chance.' Lawler said it's too early to assess the current quantitative easing program's impact on the economy, but recent new data on the credit market finds that banks are underwriting more loans to corporations.