The ECB kept interest rates at 1 per cent as expected today.
The move leaving markets focused on how ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet explains a transatlantic policy split after the Federal Reserve launched a new bid to kick-start the US economy.
With policymakers tipped to wait until December to decide if they can continue to reel in the ECB's crisis support measures, the bank is expected to stick to the view that the euro zone's recovery has enough momentum to ride out any bumps in the road.
The ECB's confident stance on the economy is supported by encouraging eurozone data but leaves it looking isolated among its advanced economy peers and is putting pressure on the euro.
The US Fed said yesterday it would start printing money again, committing to buy $600 billion in government bonds. The Bank of Japan made a similar move last month.
The topic is also being debated in the Bank of England which also kept interest rates on hold today.
A rise in manufacturing output in the bloc last month dovetailed with a global improvement. Eurozone economic sentiment also beat expectations, while ECB lending data has fuelled hopes the long lull in credit markets may be over.
Today's service PMI data were more mixed, however, with Germany outperforming while other states lagged.
Despite the rise in headline euro zone inflation to 1.9 per cent last month, the ECB is seen sticking to the view price pressures are contained and remain moderate.
If he sticks to form, Mr Trichet is expected to dodge questions on whether the ECB will press on with removing its crisis support and say the next meeting on December 2nd is decision time.
Though banks in heavily indebted countries such as Greece and Ireland remain locked out of open markets, analysts expect the ECB to keep its exit on track by putting reimposing a limit on its supply of 3-month loans from mid-January.
Also of interest to money markets will be whether Trichet adds weight to recent suggestions from ECB members Axel Weber and Guy Quaden to try to wean dependent banks off ECB support.
Recent foreign exchange volatility will be another hot topic. The rise of the euro has calmed over the last month, but jumped above $1.42 after yesterday's Fed announcement.
Mr Trichet is also likely voice his concerns about European leaders' decision to jettison ECB-backed plans for automatic punishments for overly-indebted countries in favour of German-led proposals for a default mechanism.
Other ECB policymakers have already voiced their irritation but Lorenzo Bini Smaghi revealed a switch in focus last week with calls for Europe's bail-out fund to get preference over the private sector in any default.
The premiums investors demand to hold Greek, Irish and Portuguese debt rather than that of powerhouse Germany have hit record highs since the EU leaders' deal last week in Brussels.
Debt tensions will be another focus of the post-decision press conference, as will be Bundesbank arch-hawk Mr Weber's renewed criticism of the ECB's controversial government bond purchases, which have come to a halt in recent weeks.
Reuters