Euro falls to four-week low as ECB flags easing in December

NEW YORK: The euro dropped to a four-week low against the US dollar on Thursday, after the European Central Bank president flagged further monetary easing in December.

At the same time, the dollar was bolstered in part by US gross domestic product data, which showed record growth for the third quarter, as well as an improving trend in jobless claims.

But the market's focus was on the ECB, analysts said, as Europe grapples with the surge in COVID-19 cases that forced national lockdowns in Germany and France and a regional lockdown Spain.

The ECB, which kept interest rates steady, committed on Thursday to contain the growing fallout from a second wave of coronavirus infections, saying it would hone its response by its December meeting.

"We agreed, all of us, that it was necessary to take action and therefore to recalibrate our instruments at our next Governing Council meeting," ECB President Christine Lagarde told a news conference.

Erik Bregar, head of FX strategy at Exchange Bank of Canada in Toronto, said the euro's fall was "a reflection of further monetary easing from the ECB."

In late morning trading, the euro fell 0.6% to $1.1681, after earlier falling to a four-week low of $1.1675.

The euro also fell 0.4% versus the yen to 122.03 yen.

Rapidly rising COVID-19 infection rates in Europe, along with caution ahead of the US elections, triggered the worst market sell-off since June earlier this week.

The dollar index, with the euro as the largest component, rose to a four-week high and was last up 0.4% at 93.81.

The greenback slightly benefited from data showing record growth pace in US GDP for the third quarter.

Gross domestic product rebounded at a 33.1% annualized rate last quarter, according to an advance estimate, the fastest pace since the government started keeping records in 1947. That followed a historic shrinkage rate of 31.4% in the second quarter.

A separate report showed 751,000 people filed for state unemployment benefits in the week ended Oct. 24, compared with 791,000 in the previous period.

"Although the data...appears healthy, it should be taken with a grain of salt," said Matthew Eidinger, market strategist, at Cambridge Global Payments, as he cited rise in US COVID-19 cases.

"The rapid rise in new infections threatens to reroute the economic recovery effort through a second lockdown and potentially, a double dip recession," he added.

Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.25 to 104.46 yen.