Investing.com - The euro jumped over 1% to a three-week high against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as lackluster U.S. economic reports overshadowed recent concerns over the outlook for growth in the euro zone and sent the greenback broadly lower.
EUR/USD hit 1.2883 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since September 23; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2790, rallying 1.05%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2625, the session low and resistance at 1.2903, the high of September 23.
The dollar came under broad selling pressure after official data showed that U.S. retail sales fell 0.3% last month, more than the expected 0.1% slip, after an increase of 0.6% in August.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, dropped 0.2% in September, confounding expectations for a 0.3% gain, after a 0.3% rise the previous month.
A separate report showed that U.S. producer price inflation slipped 0.1% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a flat reading in August.
In addition, the Federal Reserve of New York reported that its manufacturing index tumbled to a six-month low of 6.2 in October from a reading of 27.5 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 25.5 this month.
The euro came under pressure earlier amid growing concerns over the outlook for growth in the euro zone after data on Tuesday showed that the bloc's industrial production declined more than expected in August, while July's figure was revised down.
A separate report showed that German economic sentiment deteriorated to the lowest level since December 2012 in October, fuelling further concerns over the euro zone's largest economy.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.48% to 0.7997.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics said that the claimant count fell by 18,600 last month, compared to expectations for a decline of 35,000 people. August’s figure was revised to a drop of 33,200 people from a previously reported decline of 37,200.
The report also showed that the rate of unemployment declined to 6.0% in the three months to August, hitting the lowest level since October 2008, compared to expectations for a reading of 6.1% and down from 6.2% in the three months to July.