The yen fell to a twenty-year low against the dollar on Thursday, while the euro rose slightly ahead of a highly anticipated meeting of the European Central Bank that is supposed to shed light on the bank’s plans to tighten monetary policy.
It is almost certain, according to Reuters, that the bank will announce the end of its long-term asset purchase program at the end of this month and pledge to raise interest rates in July, but the extent and pace of monetary tightening are not clear.
The euro rose 0.1% to $1.072 today, Thursday, as it was little changed this week. Monetary policy data is expected at 1145 GMT and a press conference will be held at 1230 GMT.
As for the rest of the currencies, the yen continued its losses and fell to its lowest level in twenty years, recording 134.56 yen against the dollar in early transactions, then rose slightly to 133.79.
This is not far from the 135.20 yen level reached on January 31, 2002.
Sterling settled at $1.2528, while the risk-sensitive Australian dollar touched $0.7178. The dollar index fell slightly, recording 102.47.
In terms of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is still hovering around the $30,000 level as it has been over the past weeks. It rose slightly to $30,300 on Thursday.
