Markets go into reverse despite ECB cutting rates and boosting QE - as it happened

Markets go into reverse despite ECB cutting rates and boosting QE - as it happened

The European Central Bank has thrown the kitchen sink at the eurozone, by slashing the headline interest rate to zero and increasing the bank’s money-printing programme

 Summary: ECB cuts interest rates, but euro actually rises:

Growth and inflation forecasts cut:

 ECB to pay banks to lend money (!):
Draghi press conference - highlights start here:

Q&A: What has the ECB done, and why?

 European markets end sharply lower after rollercoaster ride

A surge in stock markets and a slump in the euro as the European Central Bank announced its new stimulus measures soon went into reverse after the central bank’s president Mario Draghi suggested that might be all there was.

With another slide in the oil price as hopes of a meeting of producers to tackle the glut began to fade again, it ended up being a volatile day for investors. So markets suffered turnarounds of several hundred points, and the euro saw a more than 3% jump from its lows to its highs against the dollar.

So the final scores in Europe showed:

    The FTSE 100 finished down 109.62 points or 1.78% at 6036.70 after earlier hitting 6203
    The FTSE eurofirst 300 fell 1.77% to 1311.74
    Germany’s Dax dropped 2.3% to 9498.15, after peaking at 9995
    France’s Cac closed 1.7% lower at 4350.35
    Italy’s FTSE MIB lost 0.5% at 18,118.23
    Spain’s Ibex bucked the trend and ended up 0.07% at 8766.9
    In Greece, the Athens market added 0.56% to 555.7

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently down 150 points or 0.8%.
The euro is currently at $1.1214, having earlier fallen as low as $1.0820. It started the day at $1.0997.Meanwhile Brent crude is down 2.5% at $40.01 a barrel, off its worst level of $39.63.