Forex – Euro advances to fresh 7
– The euro rose to fresh seven-week highs against the broadly weaker dollar on Thursday as ongoing uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve may begin to pull back its stimulus program weighed on dollar demand.
EUR/USD hit 1. 3389 during U. S. morning trade, the highest since June 19; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1. 3388, rising 0. 39%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1. 3227, the session low and resistance at 1. 3415.
The dollar remained under pressure amid doubts about when the Federal Reserve will begin to unwind its asset purchase program.
Two senior Fed officials said Tuesday that they would not rule out the withdrawal of stimulus measures at the bank’s September meeting.
The greenback showed little reaction after official data showed U. S. initial jobless claims stayed close to the lowest level since January 2008 last week.
The Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U. S. rose by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 333,000, while claims for the previous week were revised up to 328,000 from 326,000.
In the euro zone, data released on Thursday showed that German exports were up 0. 6% from the previous month in June, but the report also showed that imports fell 0. 8%, sparking concerns over weakening domestic demand.
Meanwhile, Chinese trade data showed that exports were up 5. 1% from a year earlier in June, easing concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
Imports were 10. 9% higher on a year-over-year basis, pointing to strong domestic demand.
The euro was little changed against the pound and the yen, with EUR/GBP inching up 0. 03% to 0. 8613 and EUR/JPY edging 0. 02% higher to 128. 51.
The single currency’s gains against sterling were limited after the Bank of England announced plans on Wednesday to keep interest rates at record lows as long as the U. K. unemployment rates remains above – offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on or Follow us on Twitter at @InvestingCom
