Investing.com - The euro rose to two-month highs against the dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank kept monetary policy unchanged, and investors looked ahead to the bank’s post-policy meeting press conference with President Mario Draghi.
EUR/USD touched highs of 1.3952, the most since March 13, up from 1.3935 ahead of the announcement.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3870 and resistance at 1.4000.
The Governing Council of the ECB voted to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the record low of 0.25%, in a widely anticipated decision. The central bank also held its marginal lending rate and its deposit facility rate at 0.75% and zero, respectively.
ECB President Mario Draghi has warned the further strength in the euro could trigger additional easing measures to stop inflation in the region from falling too low.
Recent data showed that the annual rate of inflation in the euro zone ticked up to 0.7% in April from a record low 0.5% in March. This is still well below the ECB’s target of close to but just below 2%.
The euro was slightly higher against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.13% to 141.88.
Elsewhere, the common currency rose to session highs against the pound, with EUR/GBP up 0.28% to 0.8227, after falling to a two-month trough of 0.8192 in the previous session.
Sterling showed little reaction after the Bank of England kept interest rates on hold at their current record low of 0.5% earlier Thursday. The bank also made no change in its quantitative easing program, which remains at £375 billion.
The BoE will publish the minutes of this month’s meeting on Wednesday, May 21.