Investing.com - The euro slid lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, re-approaching a 12-year trough as the European Central Bank's quantitative easing program continued to weigh on the single currency.
EUR/USD hit 1.0565 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0581, declining 0.52%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0493, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.0717, the high of March 11.
The euro remained under pressure after the ECB began purchasing securities on Monday as part of an asset-buying program amounting to €60 billion a month.
Concerns over the situation in Greece also weighed, as the eurogroup of finance ministers continued talks in Brussels to discuss a reform package put forward by Greece as part of its bailout review.
Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned earlier in the week that Greece must stop wasting time and start developing its reform package.
Meanwhile, the dollar's gains were limited after the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Thursday that retail sales fell 0.6% in February, the third consecutive monthly decline. Economists had forecast in increase of 0.3%.
At the same time the Labor Department reported that the number people filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell by 36,000 to 289,000 last week, indicating that the recovery in the labor market is continuing to strengthen.
The euro was also lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.36% to 0.7120.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on producer prices and consumer sentiment.