NEW YORK: The Japanese yen and the euro gained while the dollar eased against peers on Thursday as key central banks kept interest rates steady amid concerns about inflation from rising oil prices in the wake of the Middle East conflict.
The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged as expected but signalled it was closely watching growth and inflation risks from surging oil prices.
The euro was up 0.63 percent against the dollar at USD1.15225.
The Bank of Japan held interest rates steady but maintained its bias for tighter monetary policy.
The yen was up 1 percent against the greenback to 158.14 per dollar.
The Bank of England voted unanimously to keep borrowing costs on hold in the face of inflation risks from the war in the Middle East.
Sterling strengthened 0.82 percent to USD1.3368.
“Every central banker in the world is looking at the inflation effects, the likely output effects and asking themselves how much credibility do I have?” said Steve Englander, global head of G10 FX research at Standard Chartered in New York.
The Federal Reserve had held interest rates steady on Wednesday and projected higher inflation, steady unemployment and a single reduction in borrowing costs this year.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of....
