Dec 12 (Reuters) - The euro firmed and shares in euro zone
banks rose on Thursday as European Central Bank president
Christine Lagarde said the bloc was headed for a slow and steady
economic recovery over the coming year.
She said that while risks were skewed to the downside, due
to geopolitics, protectionism and vulnerabilities in emerging
markets, they were less severe than before. The euro EUR=EBS rose to a new five-week high of $1.11540,
while against the pound it firmed to an eight-day high of 84.89
pence EURGBP= . Banking shares .SX7E were up half a percent.
Euro zone bond yields remained lower on the day, with German
Bund yields briefly touching a new one-week low at -0.34%