Investing.com - The euro firmed to two-year highs against the dollar on Friday after European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann warned against keeping interest rates low.
In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/USD was up 0.76% at 1.3795, up from a session low of 1.3663 and off from a high of 1.3894.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3656, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.3900, the high from Oct. 21, 2011.
European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann said earlier that keeping interest rates low may endanger political reforms.
According to Germany’s Bild newspaper, Weidmann said low inflation shouldn’t be used to justify loose monetary policy.
"We must take care to raise interest rates again in a timely manner should inflation pressures build," he reportedly said, and his comments sent the euro firming against the dollar.
The euro shot up by more than 1% earlier though it trimmed gains shortly afterwards.
The dollar, meanwhile, saw some support from U.S. Department of Labor Thursday data revealing that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits declined by 42,000 to a seasonally adjusted 338,000 last week.
Analysts were expecting U.S. jobless claims to fall by 35,000 to 345,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 380,000, which was the highest since March.
The upbeat data supported views that the U.S. economy will be strong enough to allow the Federal Reserve to continue scaling down stimulus through 2014.
The single currency was up against the pound and up against the yen, with EUR/GBP trading up 0.17% at 0.8358 and EUR/JPY trading up 0.87% at 144.76.
In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/USD was up 0.76% at 1.3795, up from a session low of 1.3663 and off from a high of 1.3894.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3656, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.3900, the high from Oct. 21, 2011.
European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann said earlier that keeping interest rates low may endanger political reforms.
According to Germany’s Bild newspaper, Weidmann said low inflation shouldn’t be used to justify loose monetary policy.
"We must take care to raise interest rates again in a timely manner should inflation pressures build," he reportedly said, and his comments sent the euro firming against the dollar.
The euro shot up by more than 1% earlier though it trimmed gains shortly afterwards.
The dollar, meanwhile, saw some support from U.S. Department of Labor Thursday data revealing that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits declined by 42,000 to a seasonally adjusted 338,000 last week.
Analysts were expecting U.S. jobless claims to fall by 35,000 to 345,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 380,000, which was the highest since March.
The upbeat data supported views that the U.S. economy will be strong enough to allow the Federal Reserve to continue scaling down stimulus through 2014.
The single currency was up against the pound and up against the yen, with EUR/GBP trading up 0.17% at 0.8358 and EUR/JPY trading up 0.87% at 144.76.