Investing.com - The euro trimmed losses against the U.S. dollar on Friday, easing off a three-week trough but still remained under pressure as growing hopes for a U.S. rate hike in the coming months continued to support the greenback.
EUR/USD eased off 1.0569, the pair's lowest since March 17, to hit 1.0612 during U.S. morning trade, still down 0.44%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0549, the low of March 17 and resistance at 1.0788, Thursday's high.
The dollar remained supported after New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said Wednesday that the timing of a rate hike depends on economic data and added that a rate hike in June could still be possible if the labor market recovery remained strong.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes of the Fed’s March meeting showed that several officials believe the economic outlook is likely to warrant an interest rate hike in June.
The greenback was also boosted after the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week rose less-than-expected.
Earlier Friday, data showed that French industrial production was flat in February, confounding expectations for a 0.1% downtick. January's figure was revised to a 0.3% rise from a previously estimated increase of 0.4%.
A separate report showed that Spain's industrial production increased at an annualized rate of 0.6% in February after a 0.1% gain in January, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.4% rise.
The euro was steady against the pound, with EUR/GBP at 0.7246.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production rose 0.4% in February, in line with expectations. On a yearly basis, U.K. manufacturing production rose 1.1% in February, disappointing expectations for a 1.3% gain.
The report also showed that U.K. industrial production rose 0.1% in February, confounding expectations for a 0.3% increase. Year-on-year, U.K. industrial production ticked up 0.1% in February, less than the expected 0.4% rise.