* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Saikat Chatterjee
LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The euro held near seven-week
lows on Friday after the European Central Bank struck a more
dovish tone at Thursday's meeting than some had expected.
Investor attention will turn to the flash PMI releases for
January, which are some of the first indicators of how the
global economy has performed moving into 2020.
The key data, the euro zone and German PMI figures, are
expected to rise from previous readings. Higher-than-expected
readings could trigger a rally.
The euro fell against the dollar EUR=EBS , to $1.1049. It
was near a five-week low against the British pound EURGBP=D4
and 33-month low against the Swiss franc EURCHF= .
"Sentiment has steadied overnight as evident from the Swiss
franc's weakness against the euro and the dollar with markets
firmly focused on the PMI data," said Thu Lan Nguyen, a FX
strategist at Commerzbank based in Frankfurt.
ECB President Christine Lagarde told a news conference after
Thursday's meeting that risks to euro zone growth remained
tilted to the downside. Markets took her tone as dovish.
"Some people were hoping that Lagarde could talk about the
possibility of policy normalisation after Riksbank ended
negative interest rates late last year. But there was absolutely
no such indication from her," said Kazushige Kaida, head of
foreign exchange at State Street Bank.
Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, ended five years of
negative interest rates last month, despite a slowdown in the
Swedish economy. The dollar index .DXY held at 97.717 and was on track for
a third consecutive week of gains.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.6843 AUD=D4 , erasing
the gains made after a strong jobs report the day before and
heading for a fourth consecutive week of losses.