Investing.com – The euro eased up to a four-and-a-half-month high against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, after a senior official from the European Central Bank indicated that a rate hike next month still looked highly likely despite the current uncertainty in markets.
EUR/USD hit 1.4245 during early European trade, the pair’s highest since November 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4239, easing up 0.08%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.4138, Monday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.4281, the high of November 4 and an 11-month high.
On Monday, ECB Governing Council member Yves Mersch said “strong vigilance” was needed to prevent upside risks to the inflation outlook from materializing.
The comments came after the president of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet, said last week that he would "be thinking deeply" about the impact of Japan's nuclear crisis on the world economy in the coming days but reiterated that the bank was "extremely attentive" on anchoring inflation expectations.
Meanwhile, the greenback was weighed by higher oil prices as widening unrest in the Middle East fuelled fears over supply disruptions.
The euro was also up against the yen, with EUR/JPY climbing 0.20% to hit 115.50.
Also Tuesday, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said it expected workers to restore power to parts of the building housing the most damaged reactors later in the day.
EUR/USD hit 1.4245 during early European trade, the pair’s highest since November 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4239, easing up 0.08%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.4138, Monday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.4281, the high of November 4 and an 11-month high.
On Monday, ECB Governing Council member Yves Mersch said “strong vigilance” was needed to prevent upside risks to the inflation outlook from materializing.
The comments came after the president of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet, said last week that he would "be thinking deeply" about the impact of Japan's nuclear crisis on the world economy in the coming days but reiterated that the bank was "extremely attentive" on anchoring inflation expectations.
Meanwhile, the greenback was weighed by higher oil prices as widening unrest in the Middle East fuelled fears over supply disruptions.
The euro was also up against the yen, with EUR/JPY climbing 0.20% to hit 115.50.
Also Tuesday, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said it expected workers to restore power to parts of the building housing the most damaged reactors later in the day.