Investing.com - The euro was hovering close to eight-week highs against the broadly weaker dollar on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the trading day.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.3919, not far from not far from the peaks of 1.3950 struck on Wednesday.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3800 and resistance at 1.3950.
The dollar remained broadly weaker against the other major currencies ahead of congressional testimony by the U.S. central bank chief later Wednesday. Ms. Yellen was widely expected to reiterate that interest rates will remain on hold for longer, in spite of last month’s stronger-than-forecast U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.
Concerns over the crisis in Ukraine also weighed on market sentiment, as conflict between the government and pro-Russian separatists in the east and south of the country continued to escalate, fuelling fears over a civil war.
Demand for the euro continued to be underpinned after upbeat service sector data from Spain and Italy on Tuesday bolstered the outlook for the broader recovery in the euro area.
The euro was little changed after official data on Wednesday showed that German factory orders slumped 2.8% in February from a year earlier, confounding expectations for a 0.3% increase.
Elsewhere, the euro was lower against the firmer yen, with EUR/JPY slipping 0.17% to 141.37.
The single currency was little changed near two-month lows against the stronger pound, with EUR/GBP at 0.8200.
The pound strengthened across the board on Tuesday after a forecast beating U.K. services PMI fuelled expectations for a rate hike by the Bank of England in the early part of next year.