Dollar still mired at low levels as ECB suggests tapering stimulus
London — The dollar remained mired near its lowest levels since early 2015 as European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi’s suggestion that it may begin tapering its massive stimulus programme this autumn continued to underpin the euro. Meanwhile, expectations of another interest-rate hike in the US this year have dropped off as stubbornly weak, low inflation continues to surprise Federal Reserve policymakers. Moreover, an agreement to push US debt ceiling talks three months down the road to December, coinciding with the Fed’s policy meeting, have also cut chances of another rate hike. In Europe, the euro rose to a fresh two-and-a-half-year high on Friday as currency bulls judged the central bank’s concerns about the strengthening currency at Thursday’s policy meeting as lukewarm at best. At the same time, eurozone government bond yields were set on Friday for their biggest weekly falls in at least a month, after the ECB signalled a slow exit from its hefty bond-buying stimul...
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