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The euro is seeing wild swings in Wednesday trading following reports that the European Central Bank’s executive board has developed a proposal calling for roughly €50 billion a month in sovereign-bond purchases.
The euro EURUSD, -0.16% recorded a session high of $1.1680, essentially erasing four sessions’ worth of losses after the report was published, before moving lower to around $1.1591, slightly above its Tuesday afternoon level of $1.1547.
the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.19% , a measure of the dollar’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, fell 0.12% to 92.9200, dragged lower by a slightly stronger euro.
The pound traded at GBPUSD, -0.06% $1.5133 and GBPEUR, +0.09% €1.3055, compared to $1.1547 and €1.3112 Tuesday.
The dollar USDJPY, +0.18% traded at ¥117.8320, compared to ¥118.6430 Tuesday afternoon.
The yen EURJPY, +0.06% also traded higher against the euro, with the shared currency changing hands at ¥136.6200, compared to ¥137.0000 Tuesday.
Platinum for April delivery PLJ5, -0.09% fell $10.20 to $1,276.40 an ounce, while palladium for March delivery PAH5, +0.27% dropped $10.50 to $768.25 an ounce.
Gasoline for February RBG5, -0.29% rose 1 cent, or 1%, to settle at $1.3255 a gallon on Nymex. February heating oil HOH5, -0.39% gained 2 cents, or 1.2%, to end at $1.6464 a gallon on Nymex.
March natural-gas futures NGH15, +1.97% rose 14 cents, or 5%, to settle at $2.9740 per million British thermal units. That put an end to a three-session losing stretch for natural gas. Futures lost 10% on Tuesday.
Crude-oil futures rose Wednesday as news the European Central Bank is close to outlining a more aggressive stimulus package to boost Europe’s economy stoked hopes of more demand for crude.
Sweet crude futures for delivery in March CLH5, -0.84% rose $1.31, or 2.8%, to settle at $47.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures ended Tuesday down 4.7%.
Brent crude for March delivery LCOH5, -0.41% rose $1.04, or 2.2%, to finish at $49.03 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange, snapping a two-day losing streak. Brent settled 1.7% lower on Tuesday.