ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet discussed exchange rates with euro zone finance ministers on Monday but said nothing new on a dollar slide that some fear could hurt Europe's economic recovery.

Australia's rate hike may not signal a stampede to raise rates. But smaller central banks could be tempted to tighten sooner rather than later.

The influence of the world's central bankers has never been more prominent than it has throughout the global economic crisis, as these captains of monetary policy are given the daunting task of rescuing national economies from total collapse. With varying degrees of monetary policies and domestic concerns, which central bankers have most effectively combated economic issues and staved off disaster? Which ones should have done things differently?  To answer this, Global Finance Magazine has released their "Central Banker Report Cards 2009" list, which takes a look at 31 of the most prominent central bankers and assigns a them a grade based upon their performance thus far in 2009, including the challenges faced and how effectively they performed.

A weaker dollar and government intervention in the markets are to be expected as President Barack Obama reappointed Ben Bernanke as Fed chairman, analysts said.

The surprise rise in German and French gross domestic product does not mean the world recession is over, and central banks are likely to make mistakes that would bring about a second recession, Roger Nightingale, strategist at Pointon York, told CNBC Friday.

The recent rally in the euro is a positive sign for the S&P 500, because it shows appetite for risk is still strong and the S&P could hit 1,000 this summer, Kevin Cook, market analyst at PEAK6 Investments, told CNBC Wednesday.

The head of the European Central Bank refused to bullied into changing policy Thursday following comments by German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding her concerns that the central bank's loose monetary policy could lead the global economy into another, bigger crisis over the next decade.

The European Central Bank will have to print and sell euros in the currency markets to alleviate the pain the strong single currency is causing to the euro zone, David Bloom, global head of foreign exchange strategy at HSBC told CNBC Tuesday.

The European Central Bank Shadow Council said it saw no need to set an interest rate floor at 1 percent, smashing official ECB proposals to prevent the rate from reaching 0 percent.