Euro on Back Foot as Monetary Policy to Stay Loose

By Yasin Ebrahim

Invesing.com – The euro remained on the back foot against the dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank held rates steady and signaled loose monetary policy would continue at least until the end of the year as it reviews measures to revive inflation.

"It will be a whole host of things," ECB President Christine Lagarde told a press conference on Thursday. "It will have to do with how we deliver, how we measure what tools we have and how we communicate."

Lagarde also said risks to the central bank’s growth outlook remained "tilted to the downside."

EUR/USD fell 0.34% to $1.105.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.19% to 97.71.

Gains in the greenback were limited by a firmer yen on safe-haven demand despite the White Health Organization easing fears about the spread of the deadly coronavirus that origination in China, saying it was “bit too early to consider this event is a public health emergency of international concern.”

USD/JPY fell 0.33% to Y109.47, while GBP/USD fell 0.26% to $1.310.

USD/CAD was flat at C$1.315 as a lower-than-expected draw in U.S. weekly crude supplies added to fears of a supply surplus. Just a day earlier, the Energy Information Agency warned of a $1 billion barrel surplus in the first half of the year.

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