Investing.com – The euro extended early gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, surging to a seven-day high after data showed euro zone inflation unexpectedly accelerated in March, bolstering the case for a rate hike by the European Central Bank next week.
EUR/USD hit 1.4233 during European early afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since March 22; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4222, advancing 0.65%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.4051, Wednesday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.4247, the high of March 22 and a four-month high.
Earlier in the day, Eurostat said a preliminary estimate showed that the annual rate of consumer price inflation jumped to 2.6% from 2.4% in February, the highest level since October 2008 when the rate was 3.2%.
Analysts had expected euro zone CPI to remain unchanged in March.
Meanwhile, official data showed that the number of German people out of work fell to the lowest level since June 1992 in March, lowering the unemployment rate to 7.1% from 7.3% the previous month.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.60% to hit 0.8842.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a government report on initial jobless claims, while in the euro zone Ireland was to release the results of stress tests on the banking sector.
EUR/USD hit 1.4233 during European early afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since March 22; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4222, advancing 0.65%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.4051, Wednesday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.4247, the high of March 22 and a four-month high.
Earlier in the day, Eurostat said a preliminary estimate showed that the annual rate of consumer price inflation jumped to 2.6% from 2.4% in February, the highest level since October 2008 when the rate was 3.2%.
Analysts had expected euro zone CPI to remain unchanged in March.
Meanwhile, official data showed that the number of German people out of work fell to the lowest level since June 1992 in March, lowering the unemployment rate to 7.1% from 7.3% the previous month.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.60% to hit 0.8842.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a government report on initial jobless claims, while in the euro zone Ireland was to release the results of stress tests on the banking sector.