Investing.com - The euro was almost unchanged against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports did little to support demand for the greenback, while Thursday's weak euro zone data still weighed on the single currency.
EUR/USD hit 1.3685 during U.S. morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3711, down 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3648, Thursday's low and a two-and-a-half month low and resistance at 1.3771, the high of May 13.
In a preliminary report, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index fell to 81.8 in May, from a reading of 84.1 the previous month, compared to expectations for a rise to 84.5.
Earlier Friday, official data showed that U.S. building permits rose 8% to 1.080 million units last month, from an upwardly revised 1.000 million in March. Analysts had expected building permits to rise to 1.010 million units in April.
The report also showed that building starts rose to 1.072 million units in April, from 0.947 million in March, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated 0.946 million. Analysts had expected building starts to rise to 0.980 million units last month.
Meanwhile, the single currency remained under pressure after data on showed that the euro zone’s gross domestic product grew just 0.2% in the first quarter, compared to expectations for growth of 0.4%. On a year-over-year basis the bloc’s economy expanded 0.9%, falling short of expectations for growth of 1.1%.
A separate report showed that the bloc's annual rate of inflation was unchanged at 0.7% in April, in line with forecasts, but still well below the ECB's target of close to but just under 2%.
Investors also continued to monitor developments in Ukraine as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia it faced broader economic and industrial sanctions if it meddled in Ukraine's presidential elections on May 25.
The euro was lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.24% to 0.8146.