By: Barbara Zigah
The Euro slipped lower against the U.S. Dollar following the European Central Bank’s announcement that interest rates would remain unchanged and that the current monetary policy was appropriate.
Markets had been hopeful that the ECB would more aggressively address the Eurozone debt issue, perhaps even with the announcement of a massive bond purchasing plan similar to that in the U.S.
As reported at 9:11 a.m. (EST) in New York the common currency Euro was trading against the U.S. Dollar at $1.3097, off from yesterday’s New York close of $1.3127.
Against the Japanese Yen, the U.S. Dollar edged lower trading at 84.18 Yen following the release of labor data from the United States which showed that initial claims for jobless benefits rose last week.
A consensus of economists had earlier forecast that 425,000 new claims would be filed, yet the actual number was 436,000, well above the previous week’s claims of 407,000 new filings.
The U.S. Dollar also fell against the Canadian Dollar, trading at $0.9998 on an unsubstantiated rumor that the U.S. government has pledged to assist the funding of the Eurozone nations who are seeking financial assistance, by providing additional cash to the IMF, which is part of the joint mission created to help the depressed Eurozone nations needing financial assistance.