Market participants said the leu’s appreciation was fueled by capital inflows from Russia. Investor sentiment in the region also improved, following upbeat data regarding the farm output in the European Union.
The local currency opened at 4.426 per euro, from 4.428/4.4295 per euro at Wednesday close. It further appreciated and touched the day’s high of 4.4 to the euro in the second half of the session.
The central bank set the leu’s reference at 4.417 versus the euro, the strongest rate in the last nine and a half months. Against the US dollar, the leu’s indicative won 0.3% on the day to 3.228 units.
In the money market, overnight rates were flat at around 0.2%-0.7% a year.