FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 0.5% on Thursday and explicitly signalled at least one more hike of the same magnitude next month, reaffirming it would stay the course in the fight against high inflation.

But financial markets immediately interpreted the move as suggesting the tightening cycle might in fact end soon - just as they had done on Wednesday after US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell said there were signs inflation was easing. Speaking to Reuters after the meeting, three ECB policymakers pushed back on the market’s reaction, saying on condition of anonymity they fully expected at least another rate hike in May.

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ECB President Christine Lagarde also disputed the interpretation that Thursday’s move meant the hiking cycle was nearing the end.

“No. We know that we have ground to cover, we know that we are not done,” she told a news conference, reiterating the bank’s mantra that it would “stay the course” in the fight to bring inflation back down to its target of around 2%. The ECB has been increasing rates at a record pace to fight rising prices which are the byproduct of factors including the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and an energy crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago.

On Thursday, the central bank for the 20 countries that share the euro raised the rate it pays on bank deposits by another half-percentage point to 2.5%, in line with what it had said in December and with market expectations.