Comments from the president of the European Central Bank on Thursday after the Bank’s decision to maintain interest rates at 2.5 percent for the time being were interpreted to mean that the Bank will hike interest rates at its June meeting. These comments showed little concern for the current strength of the euro and led to further gains in the shared currency.

The European currency added 0.4 percent to $1.2675 versus the US dollar and was up 0.2 percent to ¥143.90 in relation to the Japanese yen. The euro was at £0.6861 against sterling after having dropped to £0.6836 earlier in the session on the release of strong economic data out of the UK.

The shared currency was a bit weaker, however, versus the Swiss franc at SFr1.5602. The Swissie was also up 0.4 percent to SFr1.2313 in relation to the US dollar and added 0.3 percent to ¥92.21 against the yen.

Tags: Exchange Rates News, ECB: European Central Bank News //