The euro showed mixed trading against its key counterparts in European deals on Thursday, after the European Central Bank left its interest rates unchanged as policymakers wait to measure the impact of the December stimulus measures.
The 25-member Governing Council, which met in Frankfurt, left the main refinancing rate unchanged at a record low 0.05 percent.
After a 10 basis points cut in December, the deposit rate was kept at a record low -0.30 percent. The marginal lending rate was retained at 0.30 percent.
The decision was in line with economists’ expectations.
ECB President Mario Draghi is set to hold his customary press conference at 8.30 am ET, where his words will be keenly watched for hints of more stimulus measures in March or June.
The euro showed mixed performance in the Asian session. While the currency declined against the greenback and the pound, it held steady against the franc and the yen.
Reversing from an early 2-day low of 0.7654 against the pound, the euro edged up to 0.7742. On the upside, the euro may locate support around the 0.79 zone.
Report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed that the house price balance in the United Kingdom ticked up to 50 percent in December.
That was in line with expectations and up from 49 percent in November.
The single currency pared some of its early gains against the franc with the pair trading at 1.0949. This is a 0.22 percent decline from a high of 1.0973 hit at 5:30 am ET. At yesterday’s close, the pair was valued at 1.0929.
Figures from the Swiss National Bank showed that Switzerland’s money supply growth slowed in December, after improving in the previous two months.
M3, the broad measure of money supply, rose at a slower pace of 1.6 percent year-over-year in December, following a 2.1 percent spike in November.
The 19-currency that rebounded from an early Asian session’s 2-day low of 1.0867 against the greenback has been steady during European trading. The euro-greenback pair was worth 1.0883 when it ended yesterday’s trading.
After edging down to 127.14 against the Japanese yen at 1:15 am ET, the euro bounced off in short while. The pair held steady since then.
Figures from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that Japan’s all industry activity decreased at a faster-than-expected pace in November, after rising in the prior month.
The all industry activity index fell a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent month-over-month in November, in contrast to a 0.9 percent increase in October, which was revised up from 0.9 percent spike reported earlier.
Looking ahead, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended January 16, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s manufacturing index for January, weekly U.S. crude oil inventories data and Eurozone consumer confidence index for January are due to be released in the New York session.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com