Minutes from the June ECB meeting did not surprise the market. ECB members agreed that a June hike was needed and expect another hike in July. Moreover, the bankers indicated that due to persistent inflation, there is a chance to exceed hiking cycles beyond July. According to many ECB members, the current level of interest rates may not be enough to bring inflation back to target.
As we can see, the ECB remains quite hawkish on further interest rate hikes. The EUR continues its strong gains, with the EURUSD pair benefiting further from the dollar weakness.

EURUSD continues a rally after breaking local April's high yesterday and tests another peak from March 2022. Source: xStation5
Economic Calendar: Day of central banker speeches led by Lagarde (21.09.2026)
Morning briefing: Trump-Xi in the shadow of geopolitical tensions (21.09.2026)
Yen loses ground after the BoJ decision
Hawkish remarks by BOJ Governor strengthen the yen – key takeaways