STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 4 April 2013

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14. ECB LEAVES KEY RATE AT 0.75 PERCENT

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_EUROPEAN_CENTRAL_BANK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-04-04-08-23-18

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- The European Central Bank has left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.75 percent, holding off on further stimulus for the euro area's slack economy - despite signs that a hoped-for recovery may be delayed.

Markets are now waiting to hear ECB President Mario Draghi's views at his regular monthly news conference, which follows the rate-setting meeting of the bank's 23-member governing council at its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.

The central bank for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro currency has said it expects a gradual recovery in the eurozone's economy later this year.

Yet recent data has raised doubts. Surveys of services and manufacturing purchasing managers suggest the region's economy shrank in the first quarter of 2013 - the sixth time it has fallen in a row. Unemployment is at 12 percent, the highest since the euro currency union was formed in 1999.