ECB's half-point rate hike next week 'a done deal'

Germany's 10-year government bond yield, the eurozone's benchmark, rose four basis points to 2.2%

The European Central Bank is expected to raise the deposit rate by a further 50 basis points in March and 25 basis points at the next two meetings, bringing it to a peak of 3.5%.

A half-point increase in interest rates next week appears to be "a done deal" and the European Central Bank will continue hiking to a plateau of 3.5% later this year, a leading economics group has predicted. 

Capital Economics said the resilience of the eurozone economy which was once thought set to plunge into recession, means the ECB will push interest rates to higher-than-expected levels.