LONDON, Jan 10: The euro rose sharply against the dollar late Thursday after the European Central Bank and the Bank of England both left their key lending rates unchanged, dealers said.

They said the decisions were as expected but the euro got a boost from hardline comments on the inflation risks by ECB head Jean-Claude Trichet, suggesting eurozone lending rates will be at least kept on hold for some time, if not raised.

That contrasted with expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut its interest rates again at the end of this month as it seeks to bolster the slowing US economy, hard hit by the collapse of the US subprime home loan market and a resulting credit crunch.

In late deals on Thursday, the euro was at $1.4739, up from $1.4693 earlier and $1.4660 in New York late on Wednesday.

The dollar also fell to 109.41 yen from 109.93 yen.—AFP