The euro was steady in early trading Thursday in Europe, with markets quoting 1.3127 dollars, compared with the European Central Bank reference rate of 1.3101 dollars Wednesday. The trading came while markets were awaiting Thursday's meeting of the ECB governing council, amid widespread sentiment among analysts that the bank is going to leave the eurozone's key main refinancing rate unchanged at 2.0 per cent, its level since June 2003. The euro had slipped somewhat on Tuesday in the wake of U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's remarks to the House Budget Committee that the U.S. economy was moving ahead at a "reasonably good" pace, adding to expectations that the Fed will continue to boost its rates. The Fed's main rate is 2.5 per cent.
