It was the eighth rate cut in the past year, extending the bank’s divergence from the Federal Reserve, which has held rates steady since the end of last year.

The European Central Bank is expected to trim interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday. That would take its key rate, the deposit facility rate, to 2%. But there's a lot of uncertainty around what the central bank could do next.

Lower inflation and concern that U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war will slow already modest growth have cleared the way for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates at Thursday's policy meeting,