The US dollar was largely steady against a basket of major currencies in early trade today, with investors now focusing on the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week. In Europe, Most indices ended higher on Thursday amid dovish comments from the European Central Bank. With interest rates close to their lower bound for some time and inflation remaining below its target, the European Central Bank said it would maintain a "persistently accommodative monetary policy stance" in order to meet its inflation target. Gold settled slightly higher after data showed that US jobless claims rose unexpectedly, channelling some inflows to bullion.......