Euro gains after ECB says it will slow bond buying pace

Euro gains after ECB says it will slow bond buying pace

LONDON- The euro extended modest gains versus the dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank as expected said it would slightly reduce the pace of bond buying under its emergency scheme. The euro rose 0.3% to the day's high of $1.1840 immediately after the announcement but then fell back to trade at $1.1837, well below Friday's two-month high of $1.1909. The ECB will in the next three months buy bonds under its 1.85 trillion euro Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) at a pace moderately lower than the 80 billion euros a month it bought over the previous two quarters. That is a token step towards unwinding the emergency economic aid it has put in place during the pandemic. Analysts polled by Reuters had said they saw bond buying under the ECB's pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) falling to possibly as low as 60 billion euros ($71 billion) a month, before a further fall early next year and the scheme's end in March. But the ECB did not signal any further withdrawal of support, and maintained its long-standing guidance that it will ramp up support further if it becomes necessary. Stocks fell on concerns about the global economy, helping currencies