Euro Rallies Against Dollar On Higher Risk Appeal

Sponsored Links

The euro saw strength against the dollar and yen on Thursday in New York after the European Central Bank left its interest rates unchanged as expected. A surge in global stocks drove the euro higher against lower-yielding currencies.

The ECB Governing Council left its key interest rate at 1%. Interest rates on the marginal lending facility and deposit facility were maintained at their current levels of 1.75% and 0.25%, respectively.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet reiterated that the Eurozone economy is stabilizing, but the recovery is expected to remain uneven.

The euro jumped to a 15-day high of 1.4816 against the U.S. dollar. The European currency re-approached a yearly high of 1.4843, which was reached in September.

A U.S. Labor Department report showed that jobless claims fell to 521,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 554,000. Economists had expected claims to fall to 540,000 from the 551,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The euro moved to the higher end of a recent trading range with the Japanese yen, approaching 130.90 in early-afternoon moves .

The latest monthly Eco Watchers survey from the Japanese Cabinet Office said the current index rose to 43.1 in September from 41.7 last month. The index stood above the expected reading of 42.5.

The euro inched lower against the British pound, moving near 0.9200. The common currency had reached a nine-day high of 0.9300 yesterday.

Also on Thursday, the Bank of England retained its key interest rate at a record low of 0.5% and decided to continue its GBP 175 billion asset purchase programme intact, as expected.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)