Euro dips to two-week low in Europe

Turkey's lira fell to a record low of 7.25 per US dollar, after traders interpreted comments from a Federal Reserve policymaker as ruling out a Fed swap line to cushion Ankara's depleted reserves.

Sterling rallied after the Bank of England left interest rates steady and held off on more stimulus. The safe-haven yen edged away from near seven-week highs against the dollar.

The euro dipped to $1.07785, its lowest level in almost two weeks and reversing modest gains earlier in the day. It has shed more than 1.5% this week and is set for its biggest weekly drop in just over a month.

It has been hurt by Tuesday's ruling from Germany's highest court that gave the ECB three months to justify purchases under its bond-buying programme or lose the Bundesbank's participation in one of its main stimulus schemes.

"The court ruling has opened up a lot more uncertainty over the continuation of the ECB's asset purchase programme, which has been a key pillar of support for the economy and financial markets," said Lee Hardman, a currency strategist at MUFG.

"Given a lack of action from governments, the ECB has been the main game in town."

Partly on the back of the German ruling, Deutsche Bank analysts have cut their euro view from bullish to neutral and revised their mid-year forecast to $1.08, down from $1.13 previously.

Relief that the Bank of England held off on further stimulus at its meeting on Thursday boosted sterling, although the British currency trimmed its gains as the session wore on.

It was last up just 0.1% at $1.2359, off a session high of $1.2418.

"By sending a strong signal that it plans to ease monetary policy further soon while staying put for now the BoE has managed to stay on top of the risks without actually doing anything extra," said Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg.

In contrast, Norway's central bank cut its key interest rate to a record-low of zero from 0.25%, in a surprise move to cushion an economy reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Norwegian crown briefly weakened against the euro and the dollar before recovering ground.

Stronger-than-expected Chinese export numbers lifted hopes in global markets that China can rebound quickly and help global growth recover from a coronavirus-induced shock.

That helped reduce demand for the safe-haven yen. The US dollar was last up 0.45% at 106.57 yen, having fallen on Wednesday to 105.985, its weakest since mid-March.

Chinese exports rose 3.5% despite expectations of 15.7% drop, helping to lift the Chinese yuan and the Australian dollar. The Aussie dollar was last up 0.9% at $0.6464.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

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