Investing.com - The euro slipped lower against the dollar on Tuesday after data showed that German business confidence fell for the first time in five months in March as concerns over the crisis in Crimea weighed.
EUR/USD was last trading at 1.3816, down from Monday’s highs of 1.3875.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3700 and resistance at 1.3875, Monday’s high.
The euro drifted lower after a report showed that the German Ifo business confidence index dropped to 110.7 in March from 111.3 in February. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 111.0.
The expectations component of the index weakened as concerns over the impact of the Crimea crisis weighed, but the current assessment component continued to improve, rising to the highest level since April 2012.
Investors were looking ahead to U.S. reports on consumer confidence and new home sales later in the session for further indications on the strength of the recovery.
The dollar ended Monday’s session lower against the euro after lackluster U.S. manufacturing report for March indicated that the U.S. economy is still struggling to gain traction in the wake of a weather induced slowdown.
The dollar strengthened against the other major currencies last week after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicated that the bank could begin to raise interest rates as soon as early next year.
The single currency was also slightly lower against the yen and the pound, with EUR/JPY slipping 0.17% to 141.24 and EUR/GBP down 0.21% to 0.8370.
In the U.K., official data on Tuesday showed that the annual rate of inflation fell to the lowest level since October 2009 in February.
The Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of consumer price inflation slowed to 1.7% in February, in line with expectations, down from 1.9% in January.
January was the first time in more than four years that the U.K. inflation rate fell below the Bank of England’s 2% target.
Consumer prices rose 0.5% in February from a month earlier, in line with estimates.
Lower transport costs pushed the inflation rate down the ONS said, as petrol and other fuel prices fell. Smaller price increases for household gas and electricity bills than in the same month last year also eased price pressures.