The euro posted strong losses on the day as the ECB’s monetary policy meeting saw Mario Draghi announcing an end to QE in December 2018. While the current QE at the pace of 30 billion euro is expected to run until September, a reduced amount of 15 billion euro is expected to continue until December.
Draghi however ruled out an interest rate hike any time soon which led to the declines in the common currency. The U.S. dollar was also seen trading stronger as economic data showed that retail sales increased 0.8% on the month while core retail sales increased 0.9% on the month, beating estimates by a strong margin.
Following the BoJ’s monetary policy decision, the economic calendar is relatively quiet for the remainder of the day. Data from the Eurozone is expected to show the final inflation figures while in the U.S. trading session, the Empire state manufacturing index is expected to be released.
