Analysts believe a flurry of fresh figures showing buoyant economic confidence in the euro zone, a renewed spike in headline inflation and stronger than expected money supply growth have underlined the case for an imminent rise in ECB interest rates.
Some suggested that European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet might have jumped the gun in ruling out a rate rise as early as next week.
Economic confidence in the single currency area rose to its highest level since mid-2001, the latest monthly survey by the European Commission in Brussels showed.
The EU's Eurostat agency then estimated that euro zone inflation accelerated to 2.4% in April from 2.2% in March - way above the European Central Bank's ceiling of 2%. Meanwhile, the ECB itself published money supply data suggesting that medium-term price pressures appear to be building up further up the inflation pipeline as well.
ECB chief Trichet more or less ruled out such a move earlier this month, when he said that market speculation of a move in May was not in line with the bank's own thinking.
The ECB closely monitors developments in the money supply when deciding the appropriate level of interest rates because it sees a link between the level of liquidity in the economy and future inflation. The bank calculates that the money supply needs to expand by an annual 4.5% to serve as a basis for non-inflationary economic growth.
But the M3 money supply - which covers cash, overnight deposits, other short-term deposits, repurchase agreements, shares and units in money market funds and debt securities with a maturity of up to two years - grew at an annual rate of 8.6% in March, the ECB said.
