Investing.com - The euro was steady against the dollar on Wednesday, holding above nine-month lows as investors looked ahead to Thursday’s euro zone data on economic growth and inflation.
EUR/USD was at 1.3371, not far from the nine-month lows of 1.3332 reached a week ago.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3332 and resistance at 1.3400.
The euro fell to lows of 1.3335 on Tuesday after a report showed that investor confidence in Germany, the euro zone’s largest economy, slumped to the lowest level since December 2012 this month.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research reported that its index of German economic sentiment dropped to 8.6 this month, down from 27.1 in July, due to the impact of ongoing geopolitical tensions.
The report indicated that economic growth in Germany will be weaker than expected in 2014.
Investors were looking ahead to Thursday’s preliminary data on second quarter growth in the euro zone, as well as in Germany and France, amid expectations for a weak reading.
The euro zone was also to publish revised data on consumer prices for July on Thursday, with the annual rate of inflation expected to remain unchanged at 0.4%, well below the ECB’s 2% target.
The ECB cut rates to record lows in June in a bid to stave off growing deflationary pressures in the region and concerns over the diverging monetary policy stance between it and its major peers have continued to pressure the single currency lower.
The euro was also steady against the yen, with EUR/JPY at 136.72, staying above Friday’s eight-and-a-half month lows of 135.71.
Elsewhere Wednesday, the dollar was little changed against the yen, with USD/JPY at 102.25.
The yen showed little reaction after official data released earlier showed that Japan’s economy contracted by an annualized 6.8% in the second quarter, as a result of a sales tax increase which came into effect on April 1. Economists had forecast a contraction of 7.1%.