Investing.com -- EUR/USD surged on Wednesday, amid a wave of downtrodden economic data on both continents to close above 1.14 for the first time in more than a month.
The currency pair traded in a broad range between 1.1378 and 1.1489, before settling at 1.1469, up 0.0091 or 0.80% on the session. At one point, the euro reached its highest level against the dollar since late-August. The euro has closed higher against its American counterpart in four of the last five and seven of the last 10 sessions. Over the last month of trading, EUR/USD has gained roughly 1.20% in value.
EUR/USD likely gained support at 1.1133, the low from October 1 and was met with resistance at 1.1625, the high from Aug. 25.
On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Department of Commerce said retail sales ticked up 0.1% in September, in line with the low end of consensus estimates. For the month gasoline sales plunged by 3.2%, pulling down the overall reading. The core reading, minus auto and gas sales, remained flat on a monthly basis, but was still up by 3.8% over the last year.
Elsewhere, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said its Producer Price Index slumped by 0.5% in September, below low estimates of consensus forecasts for a 0.4% monthly loss. On a yearly basis, the data is just as grim. Over the last 12 months, producer prices have fallen by 1.1%, down from a decline of 0.8% in August.
In the euro zone, industrial production fell by 0.5% in August, underscoring the impact of cascading demand for automobiles in Europe and machine equipment in China. On a yearly basis, the reading increased only 0.9%, far below expectations for a gain of 1.8%.
Investors await the release of the Consumer Price Index in the U.S. on Thursday for further indications on whether Federal Reserve could raise short-term interest rates before the end of the year. Analysts expect the headline CPI to fall by 0.2% for the month, but anticipate that the core reading will inch up 0.1% from its level in August.
Yields on the U.S. 10-Year plunged seven basis points to 1.97%, its lowest level in nearly two weeks. Government bond yields move in an inverse direction as bond prices.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, plunged more than 0.75% to 93.87, its lowest level in more than six weeks.