On Tuesday the euro fell to one-month lows against the greenback,
as jitters ahead of the European Central Bank's monthly policy meeting
overshadowed strong economic reports from Spain and Germany released
earlier Tuesday.
EUR/USD hit 1.1155 during European afternoon trade, the pair's lowest since January 26; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.1164, shedding 0.18%. The pair was likely to find support at 1.1097, the low of January 26 and resistance at 1.1381, the high of February 26.
The common currency was underpinned after Spain’s Employment Ministry reported that the number of unemployed people declined by 13,500 last month, compared to expectations for an increase of 10,500. The number of unemployed people rose by 78,000 in January.
Data also showed that German retail sales jumped 2.9% in January, easily outstripping forecasts for a 0.4% increase.
However, the euro's gains were trimmed, as market players remained cautious ahead of the upcoming European Central Bank meeting on Thursday, when it was expected to announce details of its quantitative easing program.
The euro was lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP edging down 0.12% to 0.7271.
In the U.K., market research firm Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said that their construction purchasing managers' index increased to 60.1 last month from a reading of 59.1 in January. Economists had expected the index to tick down to 59.0 in February.
