Investing.com - The euro held on to gains against the U.S. dollar on Monday, amid optimism U.S. lawmakers will reach a compromise to avert the looming fiscal crisis, but gains were limited as concerns over Greece’s debt woes persisted.
EUR/USD hit 1.2787 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2766, gaining 0.18%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2689, Friday’s low and near-term resistance at 1.2801, the high of November 15.
Investors continued to monitor developments surrounding the looming “fiscal cliff” in the U.S., approximately USD600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1.
Sentiment was bolstered after U.S. Congressional leaders said talks with President Barack Obama on Friday to avert the fiscal crisis were "constructive."
There are fears the U.S. economy will fall back into a recession, unless a divided Congress and the White House can work out a compromise in the six weeks left before the January 1 deadline.
Meanwhile, traders looked ahead to a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Tuesday to discuss unlocking Greece’s next tranche of financial aid.
Market players shrugged off concerns over the economic outlook for the region after official data earlier showed that Italian industrial orders tumbled by 4.0% in September, after a 0.6% increase the previous month.
A separate report showed that the level of loans in arrears in Spanish banks rose to a record 10.7% in September.
Elsewhere, the euro was higher against the pound but lower against the yen, with EUR/GBP adding 0.09% to 0.8031 and EUR/JPY down 0.04% to 103.58.
Late Monday, the U.S. was to release an industry report on existing home sales.
EUR/USD hit 1.2787 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2766, gaining 0.18%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2689, Friday’s low and near-term resistance at 1.2801, the high of November 15.
Investors continued to monitor developments surrounding the looming “fiscal cliff” in the U.S., approximately USD600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1.
Sentiment was bolstered after U.S. Congressional leaders said talks with President Barack Obama on Friday to avert the fiscal crisis were "constructive."
There are fears the U.S. economy will fall back into a recession, unless a divided Congress and the White House can work out a compromise in the six weeks left before the January 1 deadline.
Meanwhile, traders looked ahead to a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Tuesday to discuss unlocking Greece’s next tranche of financial aid.
Market players shrugged off concerns over the economic outlook for the region after official data earlier showed that Italian industrial orders tumbled by 4.0% in September, after a 0.6% increase the previous month.
A separate report showed that the level of loans in arrears in Spanish banks rose to a record 10.7% in September.
Elsewhere, the euro was higher against the pound but lower against the yen, with EUR/GBP adding 0.09% to 0.8031 and EUR/JPY down 0.04% to 103.58.
Late Monday, the U.S. was to release an industry report on existing home sales.