Investing.com - The euro traded lower against the dollar on Thursday, even as the greenback dipped against other currencies after the Federal Reserve said it made no changes to its loose monetary policies its October meeting.
Conflicting reports over Greece's quest for an extension to push through austerity measures and soft eurozone data pressured the single currency down as well.
In Asian trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was trading down 0.08% at 1.2962, up from a session low of 1.2921, and off from a high of 1.2997.
The pair is likely to find support at 1.2921, the earlier low, and resistance at 1.3077, Friday’s high.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve announced earlier that it left interest rates and monetary policy unchanged, pointing out that elevated unemployment rates and headwinds from abroad merit ongoing asset purchases from banks, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing.
"The Committee remains concerned that, without sufficient policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions," the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's rate-setting body, said in a statement.
"If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the Committee will continue its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability."
U.S. new home sales outpaced expectations in September, hitting levels not seen since April 2010, sparking some demand for risk that softened the dollar.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported earlier that new home sales rose by 5.7% to a seasonally adjusted 389,000 units in September, beating expectations for a 3.2% increase to 385,000.
New home sales for August were revised down to 368,000 units from a previously reported 373,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in September fell 3.2% to USD242,200.
The euro, however, saw downward pressure of its own.
Greece said earlier its European and IMF creditors gave it more time to push through austerity cuts though E.U. officials said otherwise, which prevented the euro from rallying.
Eurozone economic data pressured the euro downwards.
The flash eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 45.3 in October from a final reading of 46.1 in September.
Analysts were expecting the index to rise to 46.6 in October.
A separate report showed that the eurozone’s service-sector PMI crept up to 46.2 in October from 46.1 last month.
Germany’s flash manufacturing PMI fell to 45.7 in October from a final reading of 47.4 in September.
The number pressured the single currency downwards on concerns Europe's largest economy may be cooling.
Meanwhile, German research institute Ifo reported that its business climate index for October hit to its lowest level since March 2010.
The index fell 1.4 points to a seasonally adjusted 100.0 in October from a reading of 101.4 in September.
Analysts had expected the index to inch up 0.1 points to 101.5 in October.
The euro, meanwhile, was down against the pound and unchanged against the yen, with EUR/GBP trading down 0.02% at 0.8088, and EUR/JPY trading flat at 103.53.
Later Thursday, the U.S. is to release official data on durable goods orders, a leading indicator of production, as well as data on pending home sales and initial jobless claims.
Conflicting reports over Greece's quest for an extension to push through austerity measures and soft eurozone data pressured the single currency down as well.
In Asian trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was trading down 0.08% at 1.2962, up from a session low of 1.2921, and off from a high of 1.2997.
The pair is likely to find support at 1.2921, the earlier low, and resistance at 1.3077, Friday’s high.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve announced earlier that it left interest rates and monetary policy unchanged, pointing out that elevated unemployment rates and headwinds from abroad merit ongoing asset purchases from banks, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing.
"The Committee remains concerned that, without sufficient policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions," the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's rate-setting body, said in a statement.
"If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the Committee will continue its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability."
U.S. new home sales outpaced expectations in September, hitting levels not seen since April 2010, sparking some demand for risk that softened the dollar.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported earlier that new home sales rose by 5.7% to a seasonally adjusted 389,000 units in September, beating expectations for a 3.2% increase to 385,000.
New home sales for August were revised down to 368,000 units from a previously reported 373,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in September fell 3.2% to USD242,200.
The euro, however, saw downward pressure of its own.
Greece said earlier its European and IMF creditors gave it more time to push through austerity cuts though E.U. officials said otherwise, which prevented the euro from rallying.
Eurozone economic data pressured the euro downwards.
The flash eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 45.3 in October from a final reading of 46.1 in September.
Analysts were expecting the index to rise to 46.6 in October.
A separate report showed that the eurozone’s service-sector PMI crept up to 46.2 in October from 46.1 last month.
Germany’s flash manufacturing PMI fell to 45.7 in October from a final reading of 47.4 in September.
The number pressured the single currency downwards on concerns Europe's largest economy may be cooling.
Meanwhile, German research institute Ifo reported that its business climate index for October hit to its lowest level since March 2010.
The index fell 1.4 points to a seasonally adjusted 100.0 in October from a reading of 101.4 in September.
Analysts had expected the index to inch up 0.1 points to 101.5 in October.
The euro, meanwhile, was down against the pound and unchanged against the yen, with EUR/GBP trading down 0.02% at 0.8088, and EUR/JPY trading flat at 103.53.
Later Thursday, the U.S. is to release official data on durable goods orders, a leading indicator of production, as well as data on pending home sales and initial jobless claims.