Investing.com - The euro trimmed gains against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as concerns over the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone eased but investors remained jittery following a meeting between the leaders of France and Germany.
EUR/USD pulled back from 1.2785, the daily high, to hit 1.2744 during early U.S. trade, still up 0.20% on the day.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2667, the session low and short-term resistance at 1.2812, Friday’s high.
Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy met to discuss proposals to tighten coordination of fiscal policy in the single currency bloc.
Following the talks, Merkel said she was hopeful that leaders could sign off on a fiscal pact aimed at resolving the region’s two-year old debt crisis by the end of January or early February.
Merkel also warned Greece that it would not be possible to give further financial aid without swift progress on its second rescue package, including a voluntary write-down on Greek debt held by private creditors.
Sentiment on the single currency had been buoyed earlier, after official data showed that German exports jumped 2.5% in November; unexpectedly increasing the trade surplus and easing concerns over a slowdown in Europe’s largest economy.
A separate report showed that German industrial production fell more-than-expected in November, dropping for the third time in the last four months.
But concerns over the ability of troubled euro zone nations to fulfill their sovereign funding needs continued to weigh, ahead of government debt auctions by Spain and Italy later in the week.
The euro also remained fractionally higher against the pound and the yen, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.06% to hit 0.8250 and EUR/JPY easing up 0.09% to hit 97.96.
Meanwhile, the euro was lower against the Swiss franc, with EUR/CHF slipping 0.13% to hit 1.2132, after earlier falling to a three-and-a-half month low of 1.2108, following an announcement by the Swiss National Bank that Chairman Philipp Hildebrand had resigned with immediate effect.
Hildebrand’s resignation came in the wake of an investigation into a currency trade made by his wife, just weeks before the central bank imposed a minimum exchange rate on the franc against the euro.
EUR/USD pulled back from 1.2785, the daily high, to hit 1.2744 during early U.S. trade, still up 0.20% on the day.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2667, the session low and short-term resistance at 1.2812, Friday’s high.
Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy met to discuss proposals to tighten coordination of fiscal policy in the single currency bloc.
Following the talks, Merkel said she was hopeful that leaders could sign off on a fiscal pact aimed at resolving the region’s two-year old debt crisis by the end of January or early February.
Merkel also warned Greece that it would not be possible to give further financial aid without swift progress on its second rescue package, including a voluntary write-down on Greek debt held by private creditors.
Sentiment on the single currency had been buoyed earlier, after official data showed that German exports jumped 2.5% in November; unexpectedly increasing the trade surplus and easing concerns over a slowdown in Europe’s largest economy.
A separate report showed that German industrial production fell more-than-expected in November, dropping for the third time in the last four months.
But concerns over the ability of troubled euro zone nations to fulfill their sovereign funding needs continued to weigh, ahead of government debt auctions by Spain and Italy later in the week.
The euro also remained fractionally higher against the pound and the yen, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.06% to hit 0.8250 and EUR/JPY easing up 0.09% to hit 97.96.
Meanwhile, the euro was lower against the Swiss franc, with EUR/CHF slipping 0.13% to hit 1.2132, after earlier falling to a three-and-a-half month low of 1.2108, following an announcement by the Swiss National Bank that Chairman Philipp Hildebrand had resigned with immediate effect.
Hildebrand’s resignation came in the wake of an investigation into a currency trade made by his wife, just weeks before the central bank imposed a minimum exchange rate on the franc against the euro.