Investing.com - The euro moved lower against the U.S. dollar in Asian trade Thursday, as French and German leaders expressed confidence that Greece would take the steps necessary to avoid debt default.
EUR/USD hit 1.3736 in early Asian trade, the pair’s lowest since Monday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3744, falling 0.06%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3556, Monday’s low, and resistance at 1.3937, last Friday’s high.
Earlier Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou spoke to concerns that Greece was in danger of default and would meet its obligations to institute austerity measure to meet its 2011-2012 fiscal targets.
European shares ended Wednesday’s session higher, with France’s CAC 40 adding 1.87% to 2,949.14, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.02% to 5,227.02, and Germany’s DAX jumped 3.36% to end the session at 5,340.19.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that retail sales in August rose 0.1%, below market expectations of a 0.2% gain.
The figure, an indication of consumer spending for the period, was revised down to a 0.3% gain in May.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released producer price inflation numbers for August, showing that the PPI was flat for the month, following a 0.2% gain in July.
Wall Street shares posted gains, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.27% to 11,246.70, the Nasdaq Composite Index was lifted 1.6% to 2,572.55, and the S&P 500 climbed 1.35% to close at 1,188.68.
Meanwhile, the euro was lower against the British pound but up against the Japanese yen, with EUR/GBP down by 0.01% to hit 0.8719, and EUR/JPY gaining 0.06% to hit 105.46.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was scheduled to meet with officials from Europe’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council, Ecofin, in Wroclaw, Poland later this week.