Following future ECB head Christine Lagarde's dovish comments that the central bank hasn't hit the lower bound on rates (yet): In her first comprehensive comments on monetary policy since winning the job, she said Thursday the ECB has the tools to tackle a downturn and must be ready to use them if needed. The euro weakened slightly after the remarks were published. European Central Bank policy maker Klaas Knot played bad-cop, saying hawkishly that the euro-area economy isn’t weak enough to warrant the resumption of bond purchases and such a step shouldn’t be taken unless the slowdown worsens. While the Dutch ... (full story)