The euro gained versus the dollar and yen after European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said markets over-interpreted a signal yesterday that the ECB would consider a deposit rate below zero. The 17-member currency yesterday dropped the most in more than two weeks versus the greenback after central bank President Mario Draghi said policy makers have an “open mind� on reducing their so-called deposit rate below zero for the first time. Policy makers have “no plan in this direction,� Nowotny said in an interview with CNBC today. The Dollar Index (DXY) fell before a U.S. report that economists said would show American employers stepped up hiring in April. The euro advanced 0.2 percent to $1.3089 at 8:30 a.m. London time. It strengthened 0.4 percent to 128.51 yen. The dollar rose 0.3 percent to 98.18 yen. The Dollar Index, which Intercontinental Exchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies of six U.S. trading partners, fell 0.2 percent to 82.099. Payrolls increased by 140,000 workers after an 88,000 gain in March, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before a Labor Department report. The unemployment rate stayed at 7.6 percent, matching March’s reading as the lowest since December 2008, according to a separate survey. To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net.

Source