European shares rallied in today’s session, although caution remains ahead of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) interest rate decision, while Credit Suisse shares jumped after the Swiss central bank’s bailout somewhat reassured investors. fears of a global banking crisis.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was unchanged at 11:25 Greek time, having earlier risen as much as 1.6%.

It has fallen nearly 3% since the start of the week, as the collapse of US Silicon Valley Bank fueled fears of a global banking crisis and sent bank shares tumbling.

The bank index rose 1.3% after posting its biggest daily drop in more than a year in the previous session.

Shares in Credit Suisse, at the center of the turmoil, rallied, jumping more than 30% in early trade after it said it would borrow 50 billion francs from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to boost liquidity and investor confidence. Yesterday, Wednesday, its stock plunged 24% to an all-time low. The SNB confirmed today that it will provide “liquidity” to the bank.

“There appears to be a lifeline for the bank that will prevent another ‘Lehman’ moment, much to the relief of Credit Suisse’s markets and investors,” commented Victoria Skolar, chief investment officer at the interactive investor platform. “The bank, which has been around since 1856, has played a key role in supporting the growth of the Swiss economy, with the SNB clearly judging that the bank’s systemic importance outweighs any moral hazard argument.”

In any case, all eyes are on today’s meeting of the European Central Bank, a test for policymakers who are called upon to respond to growing fears about banks.

“On the one hand, we have the rising inflationary pressures in the eurozone, which the ECB needs to calm with higher interest rate hikes, and on the other hand, we now have this pressure on the banks because of rising interest rates,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Until recently, a 50 basis point interest rate hike at today’s ECB monetary policy meeting was more or less a foregone conclusion. But now the markets do not exclude the increase to be 25 basis points.

The yield on the 2-year German bond earlier rose 16 basis points to 2.55%, having fallen 54bp yesterday, as investors rushed to buy government bonds seen as ‘safe havens’ in times of market turmoil.

The euro was earlier up 0.3% at $1.0612 while the Swiss franc was up 0.9%. Investors’ preference for so-called ‘safe havens’ continued to provide support to the yen, which was earlier up 0.4%.

Oil prices also regained some of the ground they lost after falling to a 15-month low in the previous session. Brent crude futures were earlier up 60 cents, or 0.8%, at $74.29 a barrel while U.S. crude futures (WTI) firmed at $68.08 a barrel.