ECB Decides, Vote on Next ECB Head, Fed Beige Book: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Thursday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

• The European Central Bank will decide on Thursday whether the euro zone needs more stimulus as its global peers move to shore up a recession-threatened global economy
• European Union leaders could push their decision on the next ECB president into July or later as they focus on appointing the bloc’s top political positions
• Ireland’s government is standing by its choice to run the country’s central bank -- for now -- even with the incoming chief at the center of a political dispute in New Zealand
• The U.S. economy broadly expanded in recent weeks and the business outlook remained “solidly positive,” according to a Federal Reserve survey that also indicated some clouds on the horizon
• Traders need to rein in their expectations for the Fed to cut interest rates in the near term, said Axel Weber, chairman of Swiss bank UBS Group AG and a former Bundesbank president
• Nominal-GDP targeters staged a mini revolt at the Fed’s conference reviewing its policy tools
• Fears that rising trade tensions might undermine global growth are becoming a reality, contributing to a widespread slowdown in the world economy, according to International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde
• Tariffs of 25% on China and Mexico, plus retaliation in both cases, would lower U.S. GDP by 0.8% in 2021, writes Bloomberg Economics’ Dan Hanson
• China is likely to cut interest rates twice as the intensifying trade war hits the economy’s already-fragile growth, writes Bloomberg Economics’ David Qu

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Xiaoqing Pi in Beijing at xpi1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, James Mayger

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