The Euro has strengthened away from its lowest level since January against the Pound and pushed to fresh five-week against the US Dollar after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged and raised its growth forecasts for 2014.
Thursday is proving to be a volatile session as the US, Europe and UK all released important data. The Bank of England chose to maintain interest rates at the record low level of 0.5%. Sterling found support from comments made by the UK Chancellor George Osborne during his autumn statement and the raising of the UK’s growth forecast in 2014. Osborne added that the British economy will expand by 1.4% in 2013, higher than the 0.6% predicted in March and the first upgrade since 2010.
The US Dollar also briefly made gains against its major peers after data showed that the US economy expanded at a faster pace than initially reported in the third quarter of the year. The news fuelled speculation that the Federal Reserve will choose to taper its stimulus measures soon. Commodity based currencies such as the Australian Dollar fell as a result. The US commerce department said that GDP is expected to rise to 3.6%.
The Euro then had its turn after the ECB chose to maintain interest rates at the record low level of 0.25%, a move that eased concerns over inflation in the region. The single currency then received a big boost after the ECB said that had revised its growth expectations for 2014 higher.
The Bank raised its growth forecast by 0.1% point to a 1.1% rise in 2014. It expects a 1.5% rise in 2015, but warns risks are on the downside.
Current Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3647
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8346
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.5132
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6714
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7328
The Pound Sterling /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1977
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6607
The New Zealand Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5982
(Correct as of 14:25 pm GMT)
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