Investing.com - The euro held steady against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as anticipation grew ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy statement, amid uncertainty over the future of the central bank's stimulus program.
EUR/USD hit 1.3241 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3259, inching down 0.02%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3166, the low of July 25 and resistance at 1.3318, the high of June 11.
Market participants looked ahead to the Fed's upcoming policy statement due later in the day on hopes the central bank will offer more clues on when it could slow the pace of its monthly bond purchases.
In the euro zone, preliminary data showed that consumer price inflation remained unchanged at an annualized rate of 1.6% in July, in line with expectations.
Data also showed that the unemployment rate in the single currency bloc held steady at 12.1% last month, confounding expectations for a rise to 12.2%.
Earlier Wednesday, official data showed that the number of unemployed people in Germany fell by 7,000 in June, after a 13,000 decline the previous month. Analysts had expected the number of unemployed people to fall by 4,000 last month.
Germany's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.8% in June, in line with expectations.
A separate report showed that German retail sales declined 1.5% in June, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% rise, after an increase of 0.7% the previous month.
The euro was higher against the pound with EUR/GBP adding 0.20%, to hit 0.8721.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce economic growth data, as well as reports on non-farm employment change and manufacturing activity in Chicago.
EUR/USD hit 1.3241 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3259, inching down 0.02%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3166, the low of July 25 and resistance at 1.3318, the high of June 11.
Market participants looked ahead to the Fed's upcoming policy statement due later in the day on hopes the central bank will offer more clues on when it could slow the pace of its monthly bond purchases.
In the euro zone, preliminary data showed that consumer price inflation remained unchanged at an annualized rate of 1.6% in July, in line with expectations.
Data also showed that the unemployment rate in the single currency bloc held steady at 12.1% last month, confounding expectations for a rise to 12.2%.
Earlier Wednesday, official data showed that the number of unemployed people in Germany fell by 7,000 in June, after a 13,000 decline the previous month. Analysts had expected the number of unemployed people to fall by 4,000 last month.
Germany's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.8% in June, in line with expectations.
A separate report showed that German retail sales declined 1.5% in June, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% rise, after an increase of 0.7% the previous month.
The euro was higher against the pound with EUR/GBP adding 0.20%, to hit 0.8721.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce economic growth data, as well as reports on non-farm employment change and manufacturing activity in Chicago.