Euro rises slightly in wake of Federal Reserve

[NEW YORK] The euro rose slightly against the US dollar on Thursday, a day after the US central bank left interest rates untouched but signaled cautious optimism.

At 2100 GMT, the euro stood at US$1.1076, down from US$1.1119 during the day's trading but slightly up from US$1.1062 on Wednesday.

The dollar stabilised against the yen at 116.65 versus 116.49 late Wednesday. The Bank of Japan is due to wrap up a policy meeting on Friday as markets await word of economic stimulus plans.

Unlike the euro, the British pound was down against the US dollar, buying US$1.3166 versus US$1.3224 on Wednesday.

"The euro is bouncing around now as you'd expect in the immediate aftermath of a statement like this," said Omer Esiner of Commonwealth Foreign Exchange.

"I expect this will be, as the dust settles, marginally positive for the dollar," he said.

"It was a slightly improved statement from the last one we got and it should keep alive if not increase expectations for a fed rate hike by end of year."

AFP