The euro turned mixed against its major opponents in the European session on Thursday, after the European Central Bank left its key interest rates and its plan to continue its monthly asset purchases at half its current size from January unchanged, while reiterating that the rates will remain at their present levels well past the life of the stimulus.

The Governing Council, led by ECB President Mario Draghi, left the key interest rates unchanged after the conclusion of the final policy-session for this year, in Frankfurt.

The main refi rate is currently at a record low zero percent and the deposit rate at -0.40 percent. The marginal lending facility rate is 0.25 percent.

"The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases," the ECB reiterated.

In the previous session in October, the bank decided to halve the size of its monthly asset purchases to EUR 30 billion at the start of next year and to continue till September 2018 or beyond.

The bank confirmed this decision on Thursday and reiterated that they will continue until there is a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with the bank's inflation aim of 'below, but close to 2 percent'.

The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is scheduled to hold his customary post-decision press conference at 8.30 am ET.

Draghi is set to unveil the latest ECB staff macroeconomic projections that will include the first round of forecasts for 2020.

Flash survey data from IHS Markit showed that Eurozone private sector activity expanded at the fastest pace in nearly seven years in December.

The headline composite output index climbed to an 82-month high of 58.0 in December from 57.5 in November. Meanwhile, the index was expected to fall to 57.2.

The euro showed mixed performance in the Asian session. While it fell against the pound and the franc, it rose against the greenback and the yen.

The euro bounced off to 0.8821 against the pound, from a 3-day low of 0.8780 hit at 4:30 am ET. If the euro continues its uptrend, 0.90 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales volume climbed 1.1 percent on a monthly basis in November, with strong contribution from households goods stores. This was the biggest increase since April, when sales advanced 1.9 percent.

Sales were forecast to grow marginally by 0.4 percent after expanding 0.5 percent in October.

The single currency resumed its early advance against the greenback, touching an 8-day high of 1.1845. Further uptrend may take the euro to a resistance around the 1.195 area.

The 19-nation currency held steady against the Swiss franc, after rising to a 3-day high of 1.1697 at 5:15 am ET. The pair finished Wednesday's deals at 1.1653.

The Swiss National Bank maintained its expansionary monetary policy stance, saying it will remain active in the foreign exchange market as necessary although the currency weakened against the euro and the US dollar.

The interest rate on sight deposits at the SNB was retained at -0.75 percent and the target range for the three-month Libor was kept unchanged between -1.25 percent and -0.25 percent, the bank said in a statement.

The euro that rose to a 2-day high of 133.51 against the Japanese yen at 7:45 pm ET wobbled in subsequent part of the trading session. The euro was worth 133.07 against the yen when it closed deals on Wednesday.

Data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that Japan's industrial production rebounded as initially estimated in October.

Industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent month-over-month in October, reversing a 1.0 percent decline in September. That was in line with the flash data published on November 29.

Looking ahead, Canada new housing price index for October, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended December 9, business inventories for October, retail sales and import and export prices for November are slated for release in the New York session.

Euro vs Yen (FX:EURJPY)
Forex Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Euro vs Yen Charts.
Euro vs Yen (FX:EURJPY)
Forex Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Euro vs Yen Charts.