Euro dips ahead of ECB meeting

[NEW YORK] The euro weakened on Wednesday in a cautious market on the eve of the European Central Bank meeting, despite expectations there would be no major changes to its ultra-easy monetary policy.

The euro slipped against the dollar, after beginning the day higher, but trading in the currency pair remained rangebound.

Around 2100 GMT, the euro bought US$1.1296, down from US$1.1359 at the same time Tuesday.

Traders anticipated the ECB would stay the course after announcing big easing measures at its March 10 meeting. But all eyes will be on the post-meeting news conference looking for signals that more may be needed to boost growth in the 19-nation eurozone.

"Even though ECB President Mario Draghi appears to have unintentionally put a floor on interest rates, a more aggressive dovish pledge to push monetary policy further into uncharted territory may dampen the appeal of the single-currency," said David Song at DailyFX.

The shared currency edged lower against the yen, while the dollar advanced a bit, to 109.81 yen from 109.20.

Analysts said the greenback gained a slight bump-up from news of a March surge in US existing-home sales.

In other currency news, the US Treasury named one-time slave turned abolitionist Harriet Tubman as the new face of the US$20 banknote, the first time an African American has featured on US currency.

But the change will not take place before 2020.

AFP