Investing.com - The euro edged higher against the dollar on Wednesday but gains were held in check as investors waited to see if the European Central Bank would embark on outright quantitative easing this week.
EUR/USD edged up 0.14% to 1.1568, holding above last Friday’s 11-year trough of 1.1459.
The single currency has been pressured lower by mounting expectations that the ECB will launch a government bond-buying program at its meeting on Thursday, in a bid to stave off the threat of deflation in the euro area.
Uncertainty over the outcome of Greek elections, due to be held on Sunday, with anti-bailout party Syriza leading in the polls also weighed.
The euro was lower against the broadly stronger yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.82% to 136.13.
The yen strengthened after the Bank of Japan held off on expanding its monetary easing scheme on Wednesday and instead expanded a loan scheme aimed at boosting lending.
The yen had been pressured lower ahead of the BoJ monetary policy announcement as investors anticipated more stimulus.
The BOJ maintained the size of its stimulus program and reiterated its pledge to increase base money at an annual pace of ¥80 trillion through buying government bonds and risk assets.
The central bank also cut its core inflation forecast 1% from 1.7% three months ago.
USD/JPY was down 0.99% to 117.64 from Tuesday’s one-week highs of 118.85.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.34% to 93.03.