Investing.com - Expectations for a fresh shot of stimulus from the European Central Bank on Thursday pushed down the euro against the other major currencies Europe's main stock markets got off to a solid start, with the DAX in Frankfurt and the CAC40 in Paris adding between 0.1% and 0.3% Asian stocks edged up, encouraged by the previous day's rally in crude prices The big surprise in Asia came from New Zealand's central bank, which pre-empted the ECB by cutting interest rates to a record low 2.25%