(RTTNews) - During early European deals on Thursday, the euro rose against the yen, but it weakened against the dollar, pound and the franc as investors await European Central Bank's interest rate decision, which is due at 7:45 am ET. Economists expect the ECB to hold the rate steady at 1.50 percent and is expected to signal it is stepping into the eurozone debt crisis by reopening purchases of government debt amid the ongoing turmoil in bond markets ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet holds a press conference following the interest rate announcement at 8.30 am ET. Before the ECB decision, the Bank of England is due to announce its interest rate decision at 7 am ET. The BoE is also widely expected to retain its key rate at 0.50 percent and to maintain the asset purchase programme at GBP 200 billion. After hitting a high of 0.8752 against the pound at 2:45 am ET Thursday, the euro declined. The euro-pound pair is presently trading at a new multi-month low of 0.8694, compared to yesterday's close of 0.8720. If the euro drops further, it will test support around the 0.865 level. Against the dollar, the euro is now worth 1.4233, down from an early Asian session's 3-day high of 1.4374. The near term support level for the European currency is seen at 1.420. At yesterday's close, the euro-dollar pair was quoted at 1.4323. The euro that strengthened to 1.1142 against the Swiss franc at 3:10 am ET fell thereafter. Currently, the euro-franc pair is trading near yesterday's close of 1.1033. On the downside, 1.090 is seen as the next target level for the euro. The euro jumped to more than a 3-week high of 114.02 against the yen at 4 am ET. As of now, the euro-yen pair is worth 113.59, compared to 110.36 hit late New York Wednesday. The next upside target level for the euro is seen at 117.0. The yen declined heavily today as Japan unilaterally intervened in the currency market for the first time since March 18 to curb yen's recent surge against the dollar. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan also responded to the yen's rise by announcing an increase in its asset purchase program by 5 trillion yen. The central bank had shortened its two-day policy meeting to a one-day meeting and decided to maintain its uncollateralized overnight call rate at 0 to 0.1 percent. Looking ahead, German factory orders report for June is due at 6 am ET. The U.S. weekly jobless claims report for the week ended July 30 is slated for release at 8:30 am ET.

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