The euro rallied against the dollar on Friday after the European Central Bank left its benchmark rate unchanged and signalled it would not ease monetary policy.

ECB chief Mario Draghi hailed a 'normalisation' in financial market conditions, boosting confidence that the Eurozone is on track to recover later in the year.

The bullish remarks bolstered the euro to $1.3341 from $1.3256 on Thursday.

Draghi also cautioned that risks to growth in the Eurozone 'remain on the downside' but risk appetite picked up as the ECB left its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.75%.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, dropped to 79.565 from 79.792 on Thursday.

The Japanese yen tumbled to its lowest level against the dollar since June 2010 after the Bank of Japan announced a fresh round of stimulus and after disappointing data.

The dollar traded at ¥88.23 compared to ¥88 the previous session. The euro changed hands at ¥119.03 from ¥117.40.

Sterling bought $1.6128 from $1.6152 before.



CJ

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