Investing.com - The euro was almost unchanged against the U.S. dollar on Friday, trading near two-month highs as comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday continued to support, while investors eyed U.S. nonfarm payrolls data later in the day.
EUR/USD hit 1.3856 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3859, easing 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3744, the low of December 31 and resistance at 1.3894, the high of December 27.
The single currency remained support after ECB President Draghi on Thursday confirmed that the bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, with the latest economic data indicating that “the moderate economic recovery in the euro zone is proceeding.”
Draghi reiterated the ECB’s forward guidance on rates, saying that interest rates will remain at their present levels, or lower for an extended period. The ECB remains determined to maintain the high degree of accommodative monetary policy for as long as needed, and will take further actions as it sees fit, he added.
The central bank revised its forecast for economic growth in 2014 to 1.2% from 1.1% in December.
However, the bank revised down its inflation forecast for this year to 1.0% from 1.1% in December. The bank expects inflation to pick up to 1.3% in 2015 and 1.5% in 2016, remaining below the bank’s target of just under 2%.
Meanwhile, market players were looking ahead to Friday’s highly-anticipated nonfarm payrolls report for February, after job growth came in below expectations in December and January.
The euro was steady against the pound, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.01% to 0.8282.
Later in the day, Germany is to publish data on industrial production.