Euro Mostly Weaker as Comments from ECB’s Trichet Reiterate Neutral Stance

The euro gained against the ultra-weak US dollar and Japanese yen, but that was about it, as the currency fell against the rest of the majors. There was no key data on hand, but the euro did have to contend with decidedly neutral comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who said that the bank won’t necessarily raise interest rates once they start unwinding their “non-standard” policy measures. ECB Governing Council member Juergen Stark added that the extraordinary efforts will be withdrawn “as soon as upside risks to price stability emerge,” but with annual rates of CPI growth still negative and well below the ECB’s 2 percent target, it may be a very long time before this even becomes an issue.