Forexpros - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the European Central Bank reiterated that the single currency is “irreversible� and said it was ready to buy the debt of distressed euro zone states. During U.S. morning trade, the dollar fell to a two-week low against the euro, with EUR/USD advancing 0.69% to 1.2994. Speaking at the ECB’s post-policy meeting press conference, central bank President Mario Draghi said the bank was ready to undertake Outright Monetary Transactions when the prerequisites are in place and reiterated that the central bank was acting strictly within its mandate in undertaking a bond buying program via OMT’s. Draghi said the announcement of OMT’s had helped alleviate market tensions in recent weeks. Draghi also said economic risks in the euro zone remain to the downside and added that economic indicators point to weak growth in the third quarter. The ECB left rates on hold at a record low 0.75% earlier, in a widely anticipated decision. Market sentiment has been underpinned by hopes that Spain will soon request a bailout and trigger the ECB’s bond purchasing program, a move which investors hope would ease the debt crisis in the region. The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.51% to 1.6158. The Bank of England left rates on hold at a record low 0.5% following its policy meeting and left the size of its bond purchasing program unchanged at GBP375 billion, in line with market expectations. Elsewhere, the greenback was fractionally lower against the yen, with USD/JPY inching down 0.07% to 78.43 and extended losses against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF dropping 0.69% to 0.9320. The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD down 0.51% to 0.9825, AUD/USD easing up 0.08% to 1.0222 and NZD/USD dipping 0.08% to 0.8187. The Canadian dollar found support after the senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada indicated earlier that the central bank was still looking at raising rates and said that the bank would continue to monitor conditions in the labor market. Meanwhile, data showed that Canada’s Ivey purchasing managers’ index fell to 60.4 last month from a reading of 62.5 in August, compared to expectations for a reading of 59.0. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.62% to 79.56. In the U.S., the Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose to 367,000, compared to expectations for an increase to 370,000. Market participants were looking ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting later Thursday.

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