Investing.com - The euro pulled away from session lows against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday after data showed that U.S. retail sales rose more-than-expected in December, but concerns over the U.S. debt ceiling debate continued to weigh.
EUR/USD pulled back from 1.3311, the pair’s lowest since Friday, to hit 1.3351 during U.S. morning trade, still down 0.22% for the day.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3247, Friday’s low and resistance at 1.3392, the session high an almost 11-month high.
The Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose 0.5% in December, beating expectations for a 0.2% gain.
A separate report showed that producer prices in the U.S. fell 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.1% decline.
Dollar demand continued to remain supported amid uncertainty over the U.S. debt ceiling deadlock, after President Barack Obama urged Republicans Monday to approve an increase in the borrowing limit without seeking policy concessions in return.
Elsewhere, concerns over the economic outlook for the euro zone resurfaced after preliminary data showed that Germany’s economy, the bloc’s largest, contracted by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, bringing the annual rate of growth to 0.7%, a sharp slowdown from 3% growth in 2011.
Another report showed that the euro zone trade surplus widened to EUR11 billion in November from EUR7.4 billion in October, as exports rose 5%.
The euro eased back from nine-month highs against the pound, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.10% to 0.8316 and retreated from 20-month highs against the yen, with EUR/JPY dropping 0.92% to 118.62.
The yen strengthened broadly earlier after Japan’s Economy Minister Akira Amari said that a weak yen could have a negative impact on the economy by pushing up import prices.
The comments sparked profit taking ahead of the Bank of Japan’s upcoming policy meeting next week.
Also Tuesday, data showed that the Empire State manufacturing index declined to minus 7.8 in January from a reading of minus 7.3 in December. Analysts had expected the index to improve to 2.0 this month.
EUR/USD pulled back from 1.3311, the pair’s lowest since Friday, to hit 1.3351 during U.S. morning trade, still down 0.22% for the day.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3247, Friday’s low and resistance at 1.3392, the session high an almost 11-month high.
The Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose 0.5% in December, beating expectations for a 0.2% gain.
A separate report showed that producer prices in the U.S. fell 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.1% decline.
Dollar demand continued to remain supported amid uncertainty over the U.S. debt ceiling deadlock, after President Barack Obama urged Republicans Monday to approve an increase in the borrowing limit without seeking policy concessions in return.
Elsewhere, concerns over the economic outlook for the euro zone resurfaced after preliminary data showed that Germany’s economy, the bloc’s largest, contracted by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, bringing the annual rate of growth to 0.7%, a sharp slowdown from 3% growth in 2011.
Another report showed that the euro zone trade surplus widened to EUR11 billion in November from EUR7.4 billion in October, as exports rose 5%.
The euro eased back from nine-month highs against the pound, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.10% to 0.8316 and retreated from 20-month highs against the yen, with EUR/JPY dropping 0.92% to 118.62.
The yen strengthened broadly earlier after Japan’s Economy Minister Akira Amari said that a weak yen could have a negative impact on the economy by pushing up import prices.
The comments sparked profit taking ahead of the Bank of Japan’s upcoming policy meeting next week.
Also Tuesday, data showed that the Empire State manufacturing index declined to minus 7.8 in January from a reading of minus 7.3 in December. Analysts had expected the index to improve to 2.0 this month.