Investing.com - The euro was steady against the dollar on Thursday, after briefly dipping to session lows, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi played down concerns over the recent slowdown in inflation, saying it is mostly due to energy prices.
EUR/USD was little changed at 1.3380 after briefly dropping to session lows of 1.3351.
The pair was likely to find support at around the 1.3300 level and resistance at 1.3420.
Draghi said the ECB still expects a “moderate” and “uneven” economic recovery in the euro area economy and acknowledged that there has been a slowing down in growth momentum.
The ECB kept its main refinancing rate at 0.15% earlier Thursday, in a widely anticipated decision.
He said interest rates will remain at present levels “for an extended period of time” and reiterated that the bank was still committed to using unconventional measures if the outlook deteriorates.
Inflation is expected to remain low in the coming months before gradually rising in 2015 and 2016, Draghi said.
He said the measures announced by the ECB last month have eased monetary conditions in the euro zone and they will help inflation move back closer to the bank’s 2% target.
Risks to the recovery remains to the downside Draghi said, warning that heightened geopolitical risk could affect economic conditions. He said the bank was still assessing the possible impact of sanctions on Russia on the euro zone economy.
Earlier Thursday, official data showed that German industrial output rose just 0.3% in June, undershooting expectations for growth of 1.3%. Germany is Russia’s largest trading partner in Europe.
The euro edged higher against the yen, with EUR/JPY easing up 0.11% to 136.78, holding above Wednesday’s eight-month lows of 136.15.
Against the pound, the euro was little changed, with EUR/GBP at 0.7943.
Sterling showed little reaction after the Bank of England kept rates on hold at 0.5% earlier Thursday.
The BoE meeting minutes are to be published in two weeks time, when investors will learn if the vote was split.