The euro jumped against the dollar on Thursday after comments from ECB president Christine Lagarde fuelled expectations of faster monetary policy tightening, although the central bank confirmed its guidance for interest rates and its bond purchase program. Lagarde acknowledged that inflation was running hotter than expected and with risks tilted to the upside, but continued to forecast it would ease through this year. Asked if the European Central Bank was “very unlikely” to raise rates this year, Lagarde said it would assess conditions very carefully and be “data-dependent.” Eurozone money markets are currently pricing an 80 percent chance of a 10 bps hike in June and an almost 100 percent chance of 40 bps of hikes by year-end, from a 90 percent chance of 30 bps hikes before Lagarde’s press conference. “The ECB has today opened the door to market speculation for a tightening of its monetary policy,” Stefano Pesole, …