Investing.com - The euro edged higher against the dollar on Thursday but gains were limited as concerns over the political deadlock in Washington and the U.S. debt ceiling continued to weigh on market sentiment.
EUR/USD hit 1.3543 during European afternoon trade, the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3535, edging up 0.09%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3400 and resistance at 1.3590, the high of October 7.
The euro slipped to session lows earlier as the dollar was buoyed by hopes for a breakthrough in the political impasse in Washington, ahead of a deadline to avoid a U.S. sovereign debt default.
Hopes that the partial U.S. government shutdown may soon end received a boost from news that House Republican leaders were to hold their first meeting with President Barack Obama since the shutdown began later on Thursday.
President Obama has demanded Republicans raise the U.S. debt ceiling and reopen the government before negotiations on future fiscal policy can take place. The U.S. risks a sovereign debt default if the government borrowing limit is not raised by 17 October.
The dollar remained supported after Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed that most policymakers were still in favor of tapering stimulus this year.
The minutes from the Fed’s September meeting said the decision not to begin tapering stimulus was a "close call," fuelling expectations that the bank will begin to roll back bond purchases in the next few months.
Elsewhere, the euro was fractionally higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP edging up 0.08% to 0.8481.
Sterling showed little reaction after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.5% and made no changes to its GBP375 billion quantitative easing program, in a decision that was widely expected.
EUR/USD hit 1.3543 during European afternoon trade, the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3535, edging up 0.09%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3400 and resistance at 1.3590, the high of October 7.
The euro slipped to session lows earlier as the dollar was buoyed by hopes for a breakthrough in the political impasse in Washington, ahead of a deadline to avoid a U.S. sovereign debt default.
Hopes that the partial U.S. government shutdown may soon end received a boost from news that House Republican leaders were to hold their first meeting with President Barack Obama since the shutdown began later on Thursday.
President Obama has demanded Republicans raise the U.S. debt ceiling and reopen the government before negotiations on future fiscal policy can take place. The U.S. risks a sovereign debt default if the government borrowing limit is not raised by 17 October.
The dollar remained supported after Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed that most policymakers were still in favor of tapering stimulus this year.
The minutes from the Fed’s September meeting said the decision not to begin tapering stimulus was a "close call," fuelling expectations that the bank will begin to roll back bond purchases in the next few months.
Elsewhere, the euro was fractionally higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP edging up 0.08% to 0.8481.
Sterling showed little reaction after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.5% and made no changes to its GBP375 billion quantitative easing program, in a decision that was widely expected.