Euro falls to 1-week low, stocks rally after ECB rate decision

LONDON: The euro weakened and long-dated bond yields fell on Thursday after the European Central Bank cut interest rates and boosted its bond-buying programme.

The euro fell to $1.0833 after the decision and dropped almost 1 percent on the day against sterling at 76.63 pence.

German Bund futures hit the day's highs at 163.00.

Ten-year Bund yields were down 5 basis points at 0.19 percent.

Euro zone money market rates rose after initially falling on the decision, which did not introduce two-tiered deposit rates as some had expected.

Pan-European equities rose on the ECB announcement, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index up 2.5 percent.

The euro zone blue-chip index rallied 3.6 percent, with banking stocks among the strongest gainers.