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FOREX-Yen steady after BOJ decision, euro weighed by German growth worries

Published 25/04/2019, 02:07 pm
© Reuters.  FOREX-Yen steady after BOJ decision, euro weighed by German growth worries
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* Euro dips to 22-mth low on weak German business sentiment data

* Loonie hovers near 4-mth low on trimmed growth outlook

* Central bank meetings in Sweden, Turkey in focus Thursday

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Daniel Leussink

TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) - The euro steadied against the dollar on Thursday after renewed worries about a growth slowdown in Germany drove it to a 22-month low overnight, while the yen showed little reaction to a Bank of Japan policy decision.

The Japanese currency gave up a tad of its earlier gains against the dollar after the BOJ announced it intends to keep interest rates very low for a prolonged period, committing to do so at least through around the spring of next year. market reaction (to the BOJ) was barely noticeable," said Yukio Ishizuki, senior currency strategist at Daiwa Securities. "There were already very few people who believed the Bank of Japan may be raising rates. It wasn't really about 2020," he said.

The yen was last still up a fifth of a percent on the day, at 111.99 yen per dollar.

German business morale deteriorated in April, bucking expectations for a small improvement, a business index by the Munich-based Ifo economic institute showed on Wednesday, as trade tensions weighed on Europe's largest economy, leaving domestic demand to support slowing growth. greenback rallied to a 23-month high of 98.189 against a basket of key rivals .DXY overnight while gaining more than half a percent, largely propelled by the euro's weakness. The index last traded 0.15 percent lower at 98.027.

"Yesterday's strength of the dollar was exaggerated by the weakness in countries other than the U.S.," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities.

"A big question is if the weakness in Australia and the euro area are temporary or not," he said. "The main scenario is a recovery in the second half of this year in the euro area and other regions."

The euro sat at $1.1158 EUR= , having suffered its biggest one-day loss against the dollar since early March when the European Central Bank pushed back plans for its first post-crisis interest rate hike.

The single currency also shed nearly 0.4 percent against the yen overnight and was last trading at 125.02 yen EURJPY= .

The Australian dollar was largely unchanged at $0.7019 AUD=D4 .

The Aussie had given up nearly 1.3 percent during the previous session after weaker-than-expected Australian inflation numbers heightened the prospect of an interest rate cut. Canadian dollar was a tad stronger at $1.3487 CAD=D4 , edging off a four-month low hit overnight as investors raised bets on a Bank of Canada interest rate cut this year after the central bank slashed its economic growth outlook. participants awaited policy decisions by the Swedish and Turkish central banks later on Thursday.

Sweden's Riksbank is likely to keep its benchmark rate unchanged and may be forced to delay plans to tighten policy later in 2019, a Reuters poll of analysts published on Tuesday showed. Riksbank may push further out the timing of the next rate hike, and also the market may speculate it's too early for a rate cut by the Turkish central bank," said Mizuho's Yamamoto.

"That could be a negative for these currencies and positive for the dollar."

(Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Jacqueline Wong)

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