Investing.com - The euro rose to two-and-a-half week highs against the U.S. dollar on Friday, erasing earlier losses after upbeat German business climate data and as demand for the greenback remained broadly under pressure.
EUR/USD hit 1.0899 during European morning trade, the pair's highest since April 7; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0893, advancing 0.65%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0664, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.1038, the high of April 6.
The euro strengthened after the Ifo Institute of Economic Research said that Germany's business climate index rose to a 10-month high of 108.6 in April from 107.9 in March, beating expectations for an uptick to 108.4.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained under pressure on Thursday after the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased unexpectedly by 1,000 to 295,000 last week from the previous week’s total of 294,000.
Data also showed that U.S. new home sales dropped 11.4% last month to 481,000 units, compared to expectations for a 5.3% fall to 513,000 units.
The weak reports dampened optimism on the U.S. recovery and led investors to push back expectations for higher U.S. interest rates.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP up 0.13% to 0.7196.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce data on durable goods orders.