The European Central Bank president has reaffirmed support for struggling eurozone countries and said "the euro is irreversible".
ECB president Mario Draghi, speaking at a regular media conference, discussed plans of a new bond-buying programme to help crisis-wracked eurozone countries.
"Under appropriate conditions we will have a fully effective backstop... We are strictly within our mandate to maintain price stability over the medium term," Mr Draghi said.
He added: "We aim to preserve the singleness of our monetary policy.
"The euro is irreversible."
Mr Draghi's comments come after the ECB decided to keep its benchmark interest rate at 0.75% for the eurozone.
Earlier, the euro rose to a two-month high, European equities trimmed gains and German bond prices briefly fell after the central bank left its main refinancing rate steady.
The euro rose to $1.2652 from around $1.2615 before the decision.
The single currency also climbed against the yen to a two-month high of 99.299 yen, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 stock index trimmed gains and was up 0.6%.
The market response came shortly after the Bank of England decided to keep its base rate of interest at the all-time low of 0.5%.
Earlier in the day shares across Asia and Europe climbed in anticipation of the ECB decision.
In midday trading London's FTSE 100 climbed 0.64%, the Dax was up 1.32% and the Cac was boosted 1.06%.
Spain's Ibex spiked 1.73% before easing to 1.53% up, while Italy's Mib was boosted by 1.42%.
In Asia, the Nikkei closed 0.75% up while the Hang Seng ended at 0.34% up.
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