Investing.com - The euro firmed against the dollar on Friday as expectations for benchmark interest rates to rise next year began to price into trading, giving investors appetite for risk-on asset classes and leave the safety of the greenback.
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was up 0.15% at 1.3799, up from a session low of 1.3766 and off a high of 1.3811.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3750, Thursday's low, and resistance at 1.3948, Monday's high.
The dollar posted strong gains this week after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen suggested at a Wednesday press conference that interest rates could rise six months after the Fed's bond-buying program ends, which is widely seen taking place this fall.
Fed asset purchases, currently set at $55 billion a month, aim to stimulate the economy by suppressing interest rates, weakening the dollar as long as they remain in effect, and Yellen's comments left many expecting benchmark interest rates to begin rising around the first half of 2015.
Profit-taking sent the dollar falling on Friday, however, as investors took on risk in the form of equities and higher-yielding currencies.
Elsewhere on Friday, Fitch Ratings affirmed U.S. long-term foreign and local currency credit ratings at AAA with a stable outlook, taking the country off negative ratings watch.
Meanwhile in Europe, data revealed that consumer confidence within the euro zone fell less than expected last month.
The European Commission reported earlier that its euro zone consumer confidence index fell to -9.3 in March from -12.7 in the preceding month.
Analysts had expected the index to fall -12.4 last month.
Separately, data revealed that the euro zone’s current account surplus expanded unexpectedly in January.
The European Central Bank reported earlier that the euro zone current surplus account widened to €25.3 billion in January from €20.0 billion in December.
Analysts were expecting the current account surplus to narrow to €18.4B in January.
The euro was up against the pound, with EUR/GBP up 0.13% to 0.8360, and up against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.02% at 141.11.