Investing.com – The euro tumbled to a 12-day low against the broadly stronger yen on Thursday, after European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet struck a more dovish note than expected with regard to further euro zone interest rate hikes.
EUR/JPY hit 117.04 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since April 19; the pair subsequently consolidated at 117.11, tumbling 2.00%.
The pair was likely to find support at 116.19, the low of March 30 and resistance at 119.77, the day’s high.
Speaking after the ECB maintained its minimum bid rate at 1.25%, Trichet said the bank will monitor upside inflation risks “very closely,” suggesting it may wait until after June to raise interest rates again.
Trichet refrained from using the phrase “strong vigilance,” which would have signaled a June rate increase, indicating that policy makers may want more time to assess the strength of the recovery in the single currency bloc before following up on last months rate increase.
The euro was also sharply lower against the Swiss franc and the U.S. dollar, with EUR/CHF shedding 0.48% to hit 1.2714 and EUR/USD tumbling 0.98% to hit 1.4679.
Also Thursday, government data showing that U.S. initial jobless claims rose unexpectedly for the second successive week last week added to overall risk aversion.
EUR/JPY hit 117.04 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since April 19; the pair subsequently consolidated at 117.11, tumbling 2.00%.
The pair was likely to find support at 116.19, the low of March 30 and resistance at 119.77, the day’s high.
Speaking after the ECB maintained its minimum bid rate at 1.25%, Trichet said the bank will monitor upside inflation risks “very closely,” suggesting it may wait until after June to raise interest rates again.
Trichet refrained from using the phrase “strong vigilance,” which would have signaled a June rate increase, indicating that policy makers may want more time to assess the strength of the recovery in the single currency bloc before following up on last months rate increase.
The euro was also sharply lower against the Swiss franc and the U.S. dollar, with EUR/CHF shedding 0.48% to hit 1.2714 and EUR/USD tumbling 0.98% to hit 1.4679.
Also Thursday, government data showing that U.S. initial jobless claims rose unexpectedly for the second successive week last week added to overall risk aversion.