The euro moved up against its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, following comments from European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos supporting a rate hike as early as July.

Guindos said that there is no reason for not winding down the asset purchase program in July.

"For the first rate hike we will have to see our projections, the different scenarios," but "from today's perspective, July is possible and September, or later, is also possible."

Guindos stressed that a liftoff will depend on the data as the Ukraine-Russia conflict clouds the economic outlook.

Guindos' comments, which came on the heels of hawkish remarks from ECB policy makers, namely Joachim Nagel, Pierre Wunsch and Martins Kazaks, boosted expectations for a rate hike by July.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will take part in a panel discussion together with Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the IMF-World Bank meeting later today.

The euro jumped to 140.00 against the yen, its highest level in nearly 7 years. The euro may locate resistance around the 143.00 level.

The euro climbed to a 10-day high of 0.8367 against the pound and a 2-week high of 1.0936 against the greenback, off its early lows of 0.8296 and 1.0824, respectively. The euro is seen finding resistance around 0.86 against the pound and 1.12 against the greenback.

The euro touched 1.0371 against the franc, setting more than a 3-week high. On the upside, 1.05 is likely seen as the next resistance level for the currency.

The euro rebounded to 1.3632 against the loonie, after touching 1.3519 in the Asian session, which was its lowest level since June 2015. If the currency rises further, 1.38 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The euro climbed to a 2-day high of 1.4677 against the aussie and more than a 3-week high of 1.6090 against the kiwi, up from its prior 1-week low of 1.4548 and a 6-day low of 1.5915, respectively. The euro is likely to challenge resistance around 1.49 against the aussie and 1.62 against the kiwi.

Looking ahead, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended April 16 will be published in the New York session.

At 10:00 am ET, Eurozone flash consumer sentiment index for April will be out.

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