The euro trimmed its early gains against most major rivals in New York deals on Thursday, after the minutes from the European Central Bank's September meeting showed that the slowdown in emerging market economies could hinder recovery in the euro area, and downside risks to the growth and inflation outlook had intensified.

Weak commodity prices, the recent euro exchange rate appreciation and somewhat lower than expected economic growth had increased the downside risk to achieving a sustainable path of inflation towards 2 percent, according to the minutes of September 2-3 meeting.

The Governing Council judged it appropriate to not draw premature conclusions as to whether recent challenges clouding global outlook could impact on the medium-term outlook for price stability.

The minutes indicated that the Governing Council would closely assess the risks to the outlook for euro area price developments over the medium term, and would act, by using all the instruments available within its mandate, when needed.

In other economic news, data from Destatis showed that Germany's exports declined at the fastest pace in more than six years in August.

Exports plunged by seasonally adjusted 5.2 percent month-on-month in August, reversing a 2.2 percent rise in July. This was the biggest decline since January 2009, when it slid 6.9 percent.

The euro was trading in a positive territory in the European session, as investors focus on the Fed minutes for more clues about the timing of interest rate hike.

The euro eased back to 134.81 against the Japanese yen, from an early high of 135.48. If the euro-yen pair extends slide, 133.5 is possibly seen as its next support level.

Japan's economy is likely to continue its moderate recovery in the coming months and risks to the outlook include the slowdown in emerging markets and Europe as well as the pace of recovery in the U.S., the Bank of Japan said in its monthly report.

Exports are expected to remain largely flat in the near term, but are seen rising moderately once emerging markets emerge from their weakening phase, the bank said.

Moving away from an early 6-day high of 1.1315 against the greenback, the euro fell back to 1.1238. The euro is likely to find support around the 1.11 region.

The Labor Department released a report showing that initial jobless claims pulled back more than expected in the week ended October 3rd.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 263,000, exceeding forecasts for a decline to 271,000.

The euro was trading lower at 1.7006 against the kiwi, 1.4687 against the loonie and 1.5645 against the aussie, coming off from an early high of 1.7125, 3-day high of 1.4761 and 2-day high of 1.5761, respectively. The next possible support levels for the euro may be found around 1.45 against the loonie, 1.55 against the aussie and 1.68 against the kiwi.

On the flip side, the euro was trading firm at 0.7372 against the pound, as the latter was weighed by the BoE's decision to keep rates unchanged at a record low. The pair finished yesterday's trading at 0.7335.

The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 to hold interest rate at 0.50 percent as seen in August and September, the statement showed.

Policymakers voted unanimously to maintain quantitative easing at GBP 375 billion.

Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve releases minutes of its September meeting at 2:00 pm ET.

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