The euro weakened against its currency rivals toward the end of the trading week after the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates. But while this would typically be bullish for the euro, the institution’s assertion that peak rates could come as soon as March weighed on the currency. Will this reverse the euro’s bullish performance as of late?

ECB officials voted to raise the benchmark interest rates by 50 basis points to 3% at the February policy meeting. They also increased the marginal lending rate from 2.75% to 3.25% and the deposit facility rate from 2% to 2.5%. This is what markets had anticipated.

Speaking at a post-meeting press conference, ECB President Christine Lagarde told reporters that the institution “will stay the course in raising interest rates significantly at a steady pace.”

While market analysts anticipate that the central bank may be nearing peak territory, especially as some policymakers suggest the economy might perform better than expected, Lagarde assured everyone that “we have ground to cover.”

“We know that we are not done,” she said.

The latest monetary policy decision comes after the annual inflation rate eased to 8.5% in January, down from 9.2% in December. This was lower than economists’ expectations of 9%. The annual core inflation rate, which strips the volatile food and energy sectors, was unchanged at 5.2%.

The GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter was just 0.1%, down from 0.3% in the third quarter. The S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) edged up to 48.8, up from 47.8 in December – anything below 50 indicates contraction. The unemployment rate was also flat at 6.6%.

This comes soon after the Bank of England (BoE) pulled the trigger on a 50-basis point rate hike and the Federal Reserve agreed to a quarter-point rate increase.

The EUR/USD currency pair fell 0.66% to 1.0918, from an opening of 1.0090, at 18:19 GMT on Thursday. The EUR/JPY plunged 0.98% to 140.33, from an opening of 141.72.