Thursday, the leu closed 4.5325/4.534 versus the euro.
The currency opened at 4.53/4.533 per euro and traded near 4.53 to the euro in early action. Around noon, the leu hit an intraday high of 4.523 to the euro, with dealers suspecting covert foreign currency sales from the central bank.
In the second half of the session, the leu returned toward 4.53 per euro. Market participants said the leu’s evolution was not influenced by the central bank’s monetary policy decision.
The central bank kept its key rate unchanged at 5.25% for the fifth consecutive time Friday, in line with expectations, after inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in more than two years.
The bank set the leu’s reference rate at 4.5236 to the euro, a fresh record high in the last four weeks. However, the leu’s indicative lost 0.3% on the day against the US dollar, to 3.512 units.
In the money market, overnight rates were at 5%-5.5% a year, little changed on the day.