Investing.com – The dollar slumped to a thirteenth-month low against a basket of global currencies on Thursday, following a surge in the euro after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said policymakers would discuss changes to its bond-buying scheme in September.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.59% to 94.05.
Investor expectations grew that the European Central Bank (ECB) is moving closer to tapering its bond-buying programme, after Draghi said the central bank saw signs of “unquestionable improvement” in the euro zone growth and indicated that policymakers would discuss changes to the bank’s ultra-loose monetary policy in September.
"We were unanimous in setting no precise date for when to discuss changes in the future," Draghi told a press conference in Frankfurt, Germany. "We simply said that our discussions should take place in the autumn."
The euro jumped to near-two-year-highs of $1.1658 against the dollar, on the back of Draghi’s comments and remained on track to notch a five-month winning streak.
The single currency also made significant gains against sterling, with EUR/GBP rising to a seventh month high of £0.8961.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD fell to $1.2975, paring some of its recent gains against the greenback, despite UK retail sales data topping expectations.
Retail sales rose by 1.5% in the three months to the end of June, bouncing back from the 1.4% slide in sales sustained over the first three months of the year.
USD/CAD traded at $1.2571, down 0.27%, as a dip in oil prices failed to pressure the oil-sensitive Canadian dollar.
USD/JPY fell to Y111.77, down 0.15%, despite the Bank of Japan’s decision to maintain its current loose monetary policy measures.