European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday she was "confident" officials would seek to reduce uncertainty as France's crisis rattles investor confidence, and suggested the bank was ready to intervene if needed.

As expected, the central bank for the 20 countries that use the euro left its key deposit rate at two percent for a second straight meeting, with inflation and EU-US trade tensions having eased.

But the focus of the meeting was on political turmoil in France, the eurozone's second-biggest economy, where the prime minister quit this week after being defeated in a confidence vote.

The crisis has sent French borrowing costs, a measure of investor confidence, sharply higher.

Asked about the turbulence, Lagarde said she was "confident" that policymakers would seek to

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