Investing.com - The euro moved higher against the U.S. dollar Monday as Greek and Spanish debt worries eased, but the single currency remained vulnerable amid concerns over the U.S. fiscal cliff.
EUR/USD hit 1.3073 during U.S. trade, the pair’s highest since October 23; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3071 during the afternoon session, rising 0.65%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2967, Friday’s low and near-term resistance at 1.3082, the high of October 22.
Demand for the single currency was boosted after Greece launched a scheme to buy back its debt from private investors, as part of an agreement to unlock a new bailout package worth EUR44 billion.
The euro hit fresh session highs after Spain formally requested a bailout worth EUR37 billion for its banking sector.
Elsewhere, data showed that the final euro zone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index remained unchanged at 46.2 in November, the highest level since March, but remaining in contraction territory for the 16th consecutive month.
The data came after a report showed that showed that the final HSBC manufacturing PMI for China rose to 50.5 in November from 49.5 the previous month, indicating that economic activity is picking up.
But uncertainty continued over negotiations to avoid a set of spending cuts and tax increases due to come into effect on January 1 if U.S. lawmakers cannot reach an agreement on reducing the budget deficit.
The euro was fractionally higher against the pound, with EUR/GBPinching up 0.06% to 0.8113 and was trading close to multi-month highs against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.23% to 107.36.
Also Monday, a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that manufacturing activity in the U.S. deteriorated unexpectedly in November, contracting for the first time in three months.
The ISM manufacturing PMI fell to 49.5 in November from a reading of 51.7 in October, worse than expectations for a decline to 51.3.