The Euro was remains under pressure after the European Central Bank offered no surprises at the conclusion of its 2-day policy meeting. The ECB said that it intends to keep to its timetable and end the massive quantitative easing program which had pushed some 2.6 trillion Euros into the Eurozone economies. Interest rates will also be maintained at the current record low levels until at least mid-2019. N Mario Draghi, the head of the ECB, expressed his confidence that inflation would hit the 2% target, though he remains concerned about the impact of tariffs.
As reported at 10:13 am (JST) in Tokyo, the EUR/USD was trading at $1.1642, a gain of 0.02% and moving away from the earlier low of $1.16378. The EUR/GBP is trading at 0.8884 Pence, a gain of 0.03%; the pair had hit a high of 0..88859 Pence in the session while the low is at 0.88785 Pence.
Dollar Mixed Ahead of GDP
The US Dollar was finding some support against the Aussie Dollar but was having trouble gaining traction against the Japanese Yen ahead of the preliminary reading of GDP. Analysts polled are predicting that the data for the second quarter will be significantly higher at 4.1% (on an annual basis) and 2.3% (quarterly basis), up from 2.0% and 2.2%, respectively. The GDP figures are due out later today. The USD/JPY was trading at 111.054 Yen, down 0.16%; the pair has ranged from 110.997 Yen to 111.245 Yen. The AUD/USD was trading at $0.7380, down 0.0074%; the pair earlier his a session trough of $0.73735.