ECB momentum for an October rate cut is looking unstoppable

Officials judged last month that such a move would be unlikely

The European Central Bank. Borrowing costs will be set on October 17.

An interest-rate cut that European Central Bank officials deemed unlikely just three weeks ago now seems a near certainty when they next set borrowing costs on October 17.

Markedly souring business surveys, the first below-2% inflation reading in more than three years and the reassurance offered by the US Federal Reserve’s own shift to easing have all brought policymakers toward the point where a quarter-point reduction appears to need little more than a formal sign-off.