Investing.com - The euro eased after falling to fresh 12-year lows against the dollar on Thursday, as the European Central Bank’s stimulus program continued to weigh, while investors looked ahead to U.S. economic reports later in the session.
EUR/USD hit 1.0495, the weakest since March 2003 before pulling back to trade at 1.0584, 0.5% higher for the day.
The single currency had already weakened broadly this year after the European Central Bank unveiled a trillion-euro quantitative easing program in January.
The euro resumed it sharp downward decline after the bank started asset purchases on Monday, pushing euro area bond yields to new lows.
Lower bond yields make the single currency less attractive to investors at a time when expectations are mounting that the Federal Reserve could start rising interest rates later this year.
Last week’s stronger-than-forecast nonfarm payrolls report for February solidified expectations for a mid-year rate hike and investors were looking ahead to next week’s policy statement to see if it would drop its reference to being patient before raising rates.
The U.S. was to release data on retail sales and jobless claims later in the day, which would be closely watched for further indications on the direction of monetary policy.
USD/JPY was down 0.23% to 121.17, still not far from Tuesday’s eight-year highs of 122.02.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.38% to 99.25 after hitting highs of 99.5 on Wednesday.