The euro has been climbing against its major rivals on Thursday, after the European Central President Mario Draghi failed to offer surprises to market participants who have been expecting further boost in the size of the quantitative asset purchase program.
In his post-meeting press conference, Draghi said he would extend QE program by six months to March 2017, or beyond, if necessary.
The Governing Council decided to include euro-denominated marketable debt instruments issued by regional and local governments located in the euro area in the list of assets that are eligible for QE, Draghi told.
Draghi noted that the central bank would reinvest the principal payments on the securities purchased under the APP as they mature, as long as necessary.
The GDP forecast for 2015 was slightly revised up to 1.5 percent, from 1.4 percent growth predicted in September. The outlook for 2016 was maintained at 1.7 percent.
The ECB decided to cut the deposit rate on reserves held at the central bank to -0.3 percent, from -0.2 percent. The decision was in line with expectations.
The bank left other interest rates unchanged, keeping the main refinancing rate at a record low of 0.05 percent and the marginal lending rate at 0.30 percent. These were in line with economists’ expectations.
The euro has been trading in a positive territory in European deals.
The euro spiked up to a 4-week high of 1.0892 against the greenback, reversing from near an 8-month low of 1.0519 hit at 7:45 am ET. Continuation of uptrend may lead the euro to a resistance around the 1.10 mark.
The euro, having fallen to 0.7046 against the pound in early deals, reversed direction and climbed to more than a 1-month high of 0.7238. The euro is seen finding resistance around the 0.74 region.
Survey figures from Markit Economics showed that the U.K. service sector activity expanded at the fastest pace in four months in November.
The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index rose more-than-expected to 55.9 in November from 54.9 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to increase slightly to 55.0.
Reversing from a 2-day low of 129.88 against the yen, the euro firmed to more than a 1-month high of 133.86. The next possible resistance for the euro may be located around the 135.00 level.
The latest survey from Nikkei showed that Japan’s services sector continued to expand in November, albeit at a slower rate, with a PMI score of 51.6.
That’s down from 52.2 in October, although it remains well above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
The euro bounced off to near a 2-month high of 1.0939 against the Swiss franc, from a 2-week low of 1.0793 hit in European trading. Further uptrend may lead the euro to a resistance around the 1.105 area.
The euro strengthened to more than a 1-month high of 1.4497 against the loonie, 9-day highs of 1.4831 against the aussie and 1.6372 against the kiwi, coming off from its near 5-month low of 1.4030, more than 5-month low of 1.4349 and near a 6-month low of 1.5798, respectively hit earlier. The euro is poised to challenge resistance around 1.46 against the loonie, 1.50 against the aussie and 1.65 against the kiwi.
Looking ahead, U.S. factory orders and durable goods orders, both for October and U.S. ISM non-manufacturing composite PMI for November are slated for release shortly.
At 10:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will testify about monetary policy before the Joint Economic Committee, in Washington DC.
At 1:10 pm ET, Federal Reserve Governor Stanley Fischer is expected to speak about financial stability at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s conference, in Washington DC.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com