Eurogroup's Juncker-excess fx volatility unwelcome

LUXEMBOURG, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker criticised the euro's sharp gains on Thursday, saying excessive exchange rate volatility was unwelcome and markets should focus more on medium-term indicators.

"We don't like excess volatility in the foreign exchange rate. We think the markets react with too much speed on very short-term indicators," Juncker told reporters in response to a question whether he was concerned about the euro's recent gains.

"We would like the markets to better take into account medium-term indicators and not the other ones, the very short-term ones," he said.

The euro set new record highs against the U.S. dollar on Thursday as markets interpreted U.S. data as raising the possibility of a recession and more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. (Reporting by Michele Sinner, writing by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Dale Hudson)