There was no surprises from the European Central Bank on Thursday as it left its key interest rates and massive stimulus unchanged for an eleventh straight session, and also kept the forward guidance intact, thus retaining the downward bias on asset purchases.

The Governing Council, led by ECB President Mario Draghi, kept all its three interest rates unchanged during the policy session in Frankfurt.

The main refi rate was held at a record low zero percent and the deposit rate at -0.40 percent. The marginal lending facility rate was kept at 0.25 percent.

The bank also retained its asset purchases of EUR 60 billion a month till December 2017, or beyond, if necessary. The size was reduced in March from EUR 80 billion.

"The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases," the bank said in a statement.

The bank had dropped its easing bias on rates in the June policy session and some analysts had expected a similar move from the ECB on asset purchases this month.

Asset purchases would continue beyond December 2017, "or beyond, if necessary, and in any case until the Governing Council sees a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its inflation aim", the bank said.

Retaining its downward bias on the asset purchases, the ECB reiterated, "If the outlook becomes less favorable, or if financial conditions become inconsistent with further progress towards a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation, the Governing Council stands ready to increase the programme in terms of size and/or duration."

"In our view, this is a clear sign that the ECB does not want to pour more oil on the small taper tantrum fire seen in financial markets over the last few weeks," ING-diba economist Carsten Brzeski said.

"The ECB is staying on the dovish side and does not seem to be in a hurry to move towards tapering."

Economists widely expect Draghi to tread very carefully when he speaks in the post-decision press conference.

After his comments at a central banking forum in Sintra, Portugal in late June, fed market expectations of an imminent tapering and send yields and the euro soaring, Draghi is set to measure each word he speaks so as to avoid the kind of market turbulence dubbed "taper-tantrum".

Draghi and his colleagues are expected to drop any hint of a gradual withdrawal of stimulus, or tapering, in September, when a possible tapering move is likely to be announced for January after the end of the on-going round.

Some analysts expect Draghi to hint that an interest rate hike will come only after the withdrawal of stimulus.

Eurozone inflation eased to a six-month low of 1.3 percent in June, while ECB targets to keep it "below, but close to 2 percent." However, the policy-relevant core inflation rose to 1.1 percent from 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, confidence indicators and other survey measures suggest accelerating growth momentum in the 19-nation economy.

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