Investing.com - The euro pushed higher against the other major currencies on Thursday as investors awaited a European Central Bank policy meeting later in the day, where officials could address scaling back stimulus and the currency’s strength.
The euro gained ground against the dollar, with EUR/USD up 0.18% to 1.1938 by 04:00 AM ET (08:00 GMT), holding below the two-and-a-half year high of 1.2069 set last week.
Hopes that the ECB will soon announce plans to taper its bond-buying stimulus program have driven the euro up around 12% against the dollar so far this year.
Anticipation has been building ahead of the policy meeting after central bank president Mario Draghi said in July that a decision on the future of the quantitative easing program would come in the autumn.
The euro was steady against the firmer yen, with EUR/JPY at 130.19. It was higher against sterling, with EUR/GBP climbing 0.26% to 0.9160.
The dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.24% at 108.86, off Wednesday’s high of 109.39.
The dollar was boosted late Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he reached an agreement with congressional Democratic leaders to raise the debt ceiling for three months.
But lingering concerns over heightened tensions in the Korean peninsula continued to weigh on the dollar.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.2% at 92.03.
Elsewhere, the Swedish crown was lower against the euro, with EUR/SEK up 0.22% to 9.5310 after the Riksbank has left interest rates unchanged at a record low of -0.5% on Thursday.