ECB to hold interest rates steady with inflation subdued

The European Central Bank is expected to hold interest rates steady this week for its third straight meeting, with inflation under control and the long-struggling eurozone economy looking healthier.

Following a year-long series of cuts, the ECB has kept its key deposit rate on hold at two percent since July.

Inflation has settled around the central bank's two-percent target in recent months, as Europe has weathered US President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught better than initially feared.

ECB officials still face many headwinds: France's political crisis has pushed up borrowing costs in the eurozone's second-biggest economy, and the risk of a flare-up in trade tensions lingers.

But for now, the central bank is "in a good place", ECB President Christine Lagarde said in a September speec