The bank left all of its main rates unchanged, with its key refinancing rate remaining at 0%, and the key deposit rate left at -0.4%.
It would have been an enormous shock if either of those rates changed on Thursday, but markets in Europe and across the world will now be waiting with bated breath to hear what ECB president Mario Draghi holds his press conference later this afternoon.
Notably, the euro dipped below 1.1000 on Wednesday for the first time since June 27.
Mario Draghi's press conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET.
As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 7:45 a.m. ET:
- The British pound is weaker by 0.2% at 1.3182 against the dollar after retail sales fell 0.9% month-over-month in June, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The drop was the biggest in nine months, with officials identifying the weather, not the Brexit vote, as the reason for the disappointment.
- The Japanese yen is stronger by 0.6% at 106.25 per dollar. Haruhiko Kuroda, the Bank of Japan governor, says the central bank won't use "helicopter money" in its battle against deflation, Reuters reports, citing the BBC.
- The Turkish lira is stronger by 0.6% at 3.0715 per dollar. On Wednesday, the currency plunged to a record-low after S&P downgraded Turkey's rating to BB from BB+ and changed the country's outlook to negative.
- The US dollar index is weaker by 0.2% at 97.05 ahead of initial jobless claims and the Philly Fed, which will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET. Existing home sales will be announced at 10 a.m., and natural-gas inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET.