During early European deals on Friday, the euro showed choppy trading against the currencies of U.S., Japan and Switzerland after falling yesterday on ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet's comments.
Trichet said inflation rates could temporarily increase further in eurozone and are likely to stay slightly above 2% for most of 2011, before moderating again around the turn of the year.
The European Central Bank retained its key interest for the 21th consecutive month yesterday as the euro area battles rising inflationary pressures amid the resurfacing of the debt crisis in peripheral economies.
At the Governing Council meeting, the Frankfurt-based central bank led by President Jean-Claude Trichet left the key interest rate unchanged at a record low 1%. The decision was in line with economists' expectations.
As of now, the euro is worth 1.3642 against the dollar, 111.25 against the yen and 1.2910 against the franc, compared to yesterday's close of 1.3636, 111.37 and 1.2894, respectively.
Against the pound, the euro moved sideways in Asian deals, but it declined to a 15-day low of 0.8425 at 3:15 am ET as the pound rose on U.K.'s Halifax house price report. However, the euro rebounded soon and the pair is currently trading near yesterday's close of 0.8452.
Average house prices in the UK rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% month-on-month in January to GBP 164,173, Halifax said. That was in contrast to analyst expectations for a 0.2% fall. During the three months to January, prices fell 0.7% compared to the preceding three months.
Unemployment reports from the U.S. and Canada for the month of January are expected to influence trading in the upcoming hours.
News are provided by InstaForex.