Euro rose in European trade on Thursday against a basket of major rivals, maintaining gains for the second straight session against the dollar, moving off six-week lows ahead of the European Central Bank's policy decisions.
The ECB is expected to hold interest rates unchanged at 2001 highs, but might provide clues on he future path of interest rates.
EUR/USD
EUR/USD rose 0.1% to 1.0891, with a session-low at 1.0870, after rising 0.3% on Wednesday, the first profit in three days away from a six-week trough at 1.0822.
The ECB
Markets await the European Central Bank's meeting later today, after recent data showed inflation accelerated in December.
Markets expect the ECB to hold rates steady at 4.5%, already a 23-year peak, for the third meeting in a row.
The ECB said after the December meeting that despite a recent tumble in inflation, prices are expected to pick up again soon.
The ECB believe that current policies and interest rates will help achieve the 2% inflation target.
European Remarks
Several ECB officials opposed the idea of early interest rate cuts starting next May as inflation and wages continue to present risks.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said at the Davos Economic Forum that euro zone interest rates could be cut in the summer and not spring.
Dr Joachim Nagel, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, said it's still too early to talk about rate cuts as inflation remains too high.
Robert Holzmann, Governor of Austria's Central Bank, said that Middle East geopolitical tensions and shipping disruptions in the Red Sea constitute a big inflation threat.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
