Investing.com - The euro remained lower against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as weak Chinese economic data continued to weigh, despite stronger-than-forecast data on German business climate.
EUR/USD hit 1.3715 during U.S. morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3719, edging down 0.15%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3674, the low of February 14 and resistance at 1.3774, the high of February 19.
The euro strengthened against the dollar earlier, after German research institute Ifo said its business climate index came in at 111.3 in February, the highest level since mid-2011, up from 110.6 in January. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading.
German firms are benefitting from high export demand the report said, but ongoing concerns over volatility in emerging markets continued to cloud the outlook.
The future expectations component of the index ticked down to 108.3 from 108.9 in January, but was ahead of expectations for a decline to 108.2.
A separate report showed that the annual rate of euro zone inflation came in at 0.8% in January, unchanged from the previous month and slightly higher than the preliminary estimate for 0.7%. Consumer prices were down 1.1% from a month earlier, in line with forecasts.
But sentiment remained under pressure after data on Monday showed that Chinese home prices fell for the first time in 14 months in January. The data added to fears that the world’s second largest economy is slowing as the government tries to tackle bad loans and weak lenders.
The euro was steady against the pound, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.04% to 0.8263.