ECB ‘SHORT ON DETAILS’

■ THE European Central Bank (ECB) underwhelmed investors after calling an emergency meeting yesterday.

Policy makers met amid turmoil in bond markets, prompted by inflation fears, which was pushing up governments’ borrowing costs. The move prompted speculation that the central bank would announce a policy to stave off a debt crisis in the eurozone, which could hit indebted countries such as Italy hard.

It said it would ‘accelerate’ completion of a tool to ensure the economies did not ‘fragment’ into their separate regions. Hetal Mehta, of Legal & General, said the ECB statement ‘was short on details’.