Tokyo — The euro held near two-year highs against the dollar on Friday after the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) said tapering of its stimulus will be on the table this northern autumn, while a solid global economic outlook kept Asian share prices near decade highs. While ECB president Mario Draghi set no date for changes to the bond-buying plan, investors took his comments on Thursday as confirming the expectation that the discussions would lead to monetary tightening in 2018. "Although bond markets didn’t take his comments as something particularly new, the currency market liked the fact that Draghi confirmed his stance towards tapering," said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank. In early Asian trade, the euro stood at $1.1630, maintaining its 1% gain on Thursday, its biggest since June 27, when Draghi first sparked the expectation that the ECB will dial back its bond-buying scheme. Signs of steady global growth, which have prompted the ECB and a couple o...
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