On Friday the euro was almost unchanged versus its US counterpart, as markets awaited the release of final inflation data from the euro
zone and as sentiment on the greenback remained fragile after a recent
string of downbeat U.S. economic reports.
EUR/USD hit 1.0787 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0761. The pair was likely to find support at 1.0570, the low of April 15 and resistance at 1.0888, the high of April 8.
The sentiment on the greenback was fragile after the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased by 12,000 to 294,000 last week from the previous week’s total of 282,000, while analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 2,000 to 280,000 last week.
In the meantime, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued in March declined by 5.7% last month to 1.039 million units.
The disappointing numbers fuelled further speculation that the Federal Reserve could delay hiking interest rates until late 2015.
The euro's gains were capped, however, after the European Central Bank said Wednesday it expects to fully implement its trillion euro quantitative easing program.
The euro was steady against the pound, with EUR/GBP at 0.7208.
The euro zone is expected to produce revised data on the
consumer price index.
The U.S. is expected to release data on consumer
prices and consumer sentiment later in the day.
