Investing.com - The euro rose to a two-month high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged, as investors awaited more details of the bank’s bond purchasing program later in the day.
EUR/USD hit 1.2647 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since July 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2631, gaining 0.25%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2500, Wednesday’s low and near-term resistance at 1.2679, the high of July 2.
The ECB said it was maintaining the benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.75%, in line with market expectations.
Demand for the single currency continued to be underpinned by expectations that the ECB would unveil more details of measures to help stabilize the region’s sovereign debt markets at its post-policy meeting press conference later in the day.
On Wednesday Bloomberg reported that the ECB is planning unlimited purchases of government bonds with maturities of up to three years, without setting bond yield targets.
France saw bond yields fall at an auction of five- and 10-year government bonds on Thursday, while Spain also saw borrowing costs decline at an auction of two-, three- and four-year government bonds.
The euro was little changed earlier, after official data showed that the euro zone’s gross domestic product contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter, in line with expectations and unchanged from a preliminary estimate.
The euro was also higher against the pound and the yen, with EUR/GBP rising 0.16% to 0.7936 and EUR/JPY rising 0.38% to 99.12.
The U.S. was to release a report on ADP non-farm payrolls later in the session, followed by weekly government data on unemployment claims. The country was also to release a report by the Institute for Supply Management on service sector activity.
EUR/USD hit 1.2647 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since July 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2631, gaining 0.25%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2500, Wednesday’s low and near-term resistance at 1.2679, the high of July 2.
The ECB said it was maintaining the benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.75%, in line with market expectations.
Demand for the single currency continued to be underpinned by expectations that the ECB would unveil more details of measures to help stabilize the region’s sovereign debt markets at its post-policy meeting press conference later in the day.
On Wednesday Bloomberg reported that the ECB is planning unlimited purchases of government bonds with maturities of up to three years, without setting bond yield targets.
France saw bond yields fall at an auction of five- and 10-year government bonds on Thursday, while Spain also saw borrowing costs decline at an auction of two-, three- and four-year government bonds.
The euro was little changed earlier, after official data showed that the euro zone’s gross domestic product contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter, in line with expectations and unchanged from a preliminary estimate.
The euro was also higher against the pound and the yen, with EUR/GBP rising 0.16% to 0.7936 and EUR/JPY rising 0.38% to 99.12.
The U.S. was to release a report on ADP non-farm payrolls later in the session, followed by weekly government data on unemployment claims. The country was also to release a report by the Institute for Supply Management on service sector activity.