Investing.com - The euro rose against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, after data showed that Germany's trade surplus widened more than expected in October, although last week's U.S. employment report continued to support demand for the greenback.
EUR/USD hit 1.2367 during European late morning trade, the pair's highest since December 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2361, gaining 0.38%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2271, the low of December 5 and a two-year low and resistance at 1.2458, the high of December 4.
Official data earlier showed that Germany's trade surplus widened to €20.6 billion in October from €18.6 billion in September, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated trade surplus of €18.5 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to €19.2 billion in October.
The report came a day after data showed that German industrial production rose just 0.2% in October, while September’s figure was revised down to 1.1% from 1.4% previously. The data had fuelled concerns over the outlook for fourth quarter growth.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained broadly supported after the Labor Department reported last Friday that the U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November, far more than the 225,000 forecast by economists and the largest monthly increase in almost three years.
The strong data fuelled to expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates mid-2015, compared to expectations for September 2015 before the report.
Earlier Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Fed officials are looking at dropping an assurance that interest rates will stay low for a "considerable time", in its statement, following its upcoming policy meeting next week.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.32% to 0.7897.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics reported on Tuesday that manufacturing production decreased by 0.7% in October, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.2%.
Manufacturing production rose by 0.6% in September, whose figure was upwardly revised from previously reported rise of 0.4%.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production rose at rate of 1.7% in October, missing expectations for a gain of 3.2%, after rising at a rate of 2.9% in the preceding month.
The report also showed that industrial production fell 0.1% in October, compared to expectations for a 0.2% gain, after rising 0.7% in September.