Investing.com - The euro held gains against the dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank kept monetary policy on hold, as investors awaited the bank’s press conference later in the session.
EUR/USD hit session highs of 1.3656 and was last up 0.27% to 1.3611.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3552, Wednesday’s low and a one-month low and resistance at 1.3655, the high of January 7.
The ECB left interest rates on hold at 0.25%, in a widely anticipated decision. The bank also held its marginal lending rate at 0.75% and kept its deposit facility rate unchanged at zero.
Investors were awaiting remarks from ECB President Mario Draghi at the bank’s post policy meeting press conference, after data earlier in the week showed that the annual rate of inflation in the euro zone slowed to 0.8% last month, from 0.9% in November. The soft data fuelled concerns over the threat of deflation in the euro area.
The euro fell to one-month lows against the dollar on Wednesday after data showed that the U.S. private sector added the largest number of jobs since November 2012 last month. The data bolstered the outlook for the recovery in the U.S. labor market, as investors turned their attention the government’s jobs report for December, due out on Friday.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserves’ December meeting showed that the bank cited a stronger labor market in its decision to cut its asset purchase program by USD10 billion, reducing it to USD75 billion-a-month.
Elsewhere, the euro was also higher against the pound. EUR/GBP hit session highs of 0.8277 and was last up 0.18% to 0.8268, still close to the one-year low of 0.8241 struck on Wednesday.
The Bank of England left rates on hold at 0.5% on Thursday, and announced no change to the size of its GBP375 billion asset purchase program, as was widely expected.
The shared currency was trading close to session highs against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.40% to 142.90.
EUR/USD hit session highs of 1.3656 and was last up 0.27% to 1.3611.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3552, Wednesday’s low and a one-month low and resistance at 1.3655, the high of January 7.
The ECB left interest rates on hold at 0.25%, in a widely anticipated decision. The bank also held its marginal lending rate at 0.75% and kept its deposit facility rate unchanged at zero.
Investors were awaiting remarks from ECB President Mario Draghi at the bank’s post policy meeting press conference, after data earlier in the week showed that the annual rate of inflation in the euro zone slowed to 0.8% last month, from 0.9% in November. The soft data fuelled concerns over the threat of deflation in the euro area.
The euro fell to one-month lows against the dollar on Wednesday after data showed that the U.S. private sector added the largest number of jobs since November 2012 last month. The data bolstered the outlook for the recovery in the U.S. labor market, as investors turned their attention the government’s jobs report for December, due out on Friday.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserves’ December meeting showed that the bank cited a stronger labor market in its decision to cut its asset purchase program by USD10 billion, reducing it to USD75 billion-a-month.
Elsewhere, the euro was also higher against the pound. EUR/GBP hit session highs of 0.8277 and was last up 0.18% to 0.8268, still close to the one-year low of 0.8241 struck on Wednesday.
The Bank of England left rates on hold at 0.5% on Thursday, and announced no change to the size of its GBP375 billion asset purchase program, as was widely expected.
The shared currency was trading close to session highs against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.40% to 142.90.