Investing.com - The euro was almost unchanged against the U.S. dollar on Friday, hovering close to a three-week high as global growth concerns slightly eased after the release of strong U.S. data on Thursday.
EUR/USD hit 1.2815 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2806, dipping 0.02%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2704, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.2886, the high of October 15.
Concerns over the recovery of the U.S. economy subsided after the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 11 decreased by 23,000 to a 14-year low of 264,000 from the previous week’s total of 287,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 3,000 to 290,000 last week.
A separate report showed that U.S. industrial production climbed 1.0% last month, beating expectations for a 0.4% rise.
Market sentiment also improved as St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said the U.S. central bank may want to maintain its bond buying for now given a drop in inflation expectations.
However, sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after revised data on Thursday showed that euro zone consumer price inflation rose by 0.3% in September, in line with expectations.
The rate has now been below 1% for 12 straight months, well under the European Central Bank's target of near but just under 2%.
The euro was steady against the pound, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.01% to 0.7963.
Later in the day, rhe U.S. was to produce reports on building permits and housing starts, as well as a preliminary report on consumer sentiment.