Investing.com - The euro trimmed gains against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, after the release of mixed manufacturing and service sector activity data from the euro zone, although sentiment on the greenback remained fragile ahead of Friday’s speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
EUR/USD pulled back from 1.1355, the session high, to hit 1.1334 during European morning trade, still up 0.12%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.1268, Monday’s low and resistance at 1.1367, the high of August 18 and a nearly two-month high.
Earlier Tuesday, research group Markit said Germany’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index slipped to a two-month low of 53.6 in August from 53.8 the previous month, confounding expectations for a slip to 53.5.
Germany’s services PMI fell to a 15-month low of 53.3 this month from 54.4 in July, compared to expectations for an unchanged reading.
Markit also said that the French manufacturing PMI ticked down to 48.5 in August from 48.6 last month, compared to expectations for a rise to 48.8.
The French services PMI rose to 52.0 this month from 50.5 in July, beating expectations for an unchanged reading.
For the entire euro zone, the composite PMI, which measures the combined output of both the manufacturing and service sectors ticked up to 53.3 in August from 53.2 in July, compared to expectations for a slip to 53.1.
Meanwhile, the greenback came under pressure as investors grew more cautious ahead of this Friday’s speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
Market participants are hoping Ms. Yellen will give further indications on the timing of future rate hikes.
The U.S. dollar moved broadly higher after San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams late last week signaled support for a September rate increase.
The euro was lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.26% to 0.8596.