EURUSD drops to 11 1/2-year low after ECB Draghi stimulus comments

The EURUSD retreated on Thursday to hit a an 11 1/2-year low after ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank may extend its bond purchases beyond September 2016, if required.

As predicted, the ECB gave more details about its €1tn quantitative easing program, but investors and traders interpreted the comments negatively.

The ECB said it would start buying bonds on March 9, including debt with negative yields, where the purchases will amount to 60 billion euros each month.

Now, many investors believe that it will take a long time for the euro area to recover from the repercussion of the 2009 debt crisis.  

The euro rose after the ECB raised its 2016 inflation forecasts to 1.5 percent from 1.3 percent, but fell thereafter.  

On the other hand, the dollar remained firm despite a report showing U.S. jobless claims climbed last week to the highest level in nine months.  

First-time job seekers asking for benefits rose by 7,000 to 320,000 in the week through February 28, compared to 313,000 a week before.  

However, the main attention will be on tomorrow’s non-farm payrolls data, which may show American employers added 240,000 jobs last month.