Investing.com - The euro ticked higher against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after successful auctions of Spanish and Italian government debt, while investors looked ahead to the outcome of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later in the day.
EUR/USD hit 1.2768 during European late morning trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2746, gaining 0.31%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2660, Wednesday’s low and a 16-month trough and short-term resistance at 1.2789, Wednesday’s high.
Spain sold twice the maximum targeted amount of EUR5 billion at auction, selling EUR9.98 billion in bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016, including a new benchmark bond.
The yield on the new benchmark bond, which matures in July 2015, was 3.38%, compared with 5.18% at a similar auction in December.
Italy auctioned EUR12 billion in short-term debt with yields on five-month bonds at 1.6%, down from 3.25% in December and the yield on 12-month bills falling to 2.73% from 5.95% last month.
The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% and was expected to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
But concerns over the impact of the region’s debt crisis on the outlook for growth lingered after official data showed that industrial production in the euro zone declined for the third consecutive month in November.
Eurostat said industrial production fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in November, compared to expectations for a 0.2% drop, bringing the annualized rate of decline to 0.3%.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.21% to hit 0.8306.
Later Thursday, the Bank of England was to announce its benchmark interest rate, while the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and initial jobless claims.
EUR/USD hit 1.2768 during European late morning trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2746, gaining 0.31%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2660, Wednesday’s low and a 16-month trough and short-term resistance at 1.2789, Wednesday’s high.
Spain sold twice the maximum targeted amount of EUR5 billion at auction, selling EUR9.98 billion in bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016, including a new benchmark bond.
The yield on the new benchmark bond, which matures in July 2015, was 3.38%, compared with 5.18% at a similar auction in December.
Italy auctioned EUR12 billion in short-term debt with yields on five-month bonds at 1.6%, down from 3.25% in December and the yield on 12-month bills falling to 2.73% from 5.95% last month.
The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% and was expected to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
But concerns over the impact of the region’s debt crisis on the outlook for growth lingered after official data showed that industrial production in the euro zone declined for the third consecutive month in November.
Eurostat said industrial production fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in November, compared to expectations for a 0.2% drop, bringing the annualized rate of decline to 0.3%.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.21% to hit 0.8306.
Later Thursday, the Bank of England was to announce its benchmark interest rate, while the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and initial jobless claims.