Euro extends gains on Draghi wagers

London - The euro extended its gains amid speculation European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is moving away from talking down the currency.

“The gain in the euro was a reaction to the ECB’s decision to keep rates on hold and the fact that Draghi has so far refrained from talking about the euro,” said Fabrizio Fiorini, chief investment officer at Aletti Gestielle SGR SpA in Milian, the most accurate forecaster of the euro-dollar in Bloomberg’s latest rankings. “He has changed his approach on foreign exchange. Now it’s time for credit easing, not FX easing.”

The shared currency reached a session high of $1.1398, a 0.9% gain on the day. It was up 0.7% at $1.1374 as of 14:52 The euro was also boosted by worse-than-forecast outlook data from the US

Draghi was speaking after officials kept the central bank’s main interest rates on hold, as expected by every economist surveyed by Bloomberg. He predicted inflation would pick up in the second half of this year and improve through 2017 to 2018, while pointing to an improvement in eurozone financing conditions.