Investing.com - The euro touched fresh nine-month lows against the dollar on Wednesday as traders increased bearish bets on the single currency ahead of the outcome of Thursday’s European Central Bank policy meeting.
EUR/USD hit lows of 1.3350, the weakest level since November 11 and was last down 0.11% to 1.3361.
The pair was likely to find support at around the 1.3300 level and resistance at 1.3390.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned after data on Tuesday showed that the U.S. service sector expanded at the quickest pace in more than three years in July.
The Institute for Supply Management's services purchasing manager's index rose to 58.7 up from 56.0 in June, beating forecasts and well above the 50 level that signals expansion.
The dollar received an additional boost after another report showed that U.S. factory orders rose 1.1% in June, above economists' forecasts of a 0.5% gain.
Sentiment on the single currency remained weak ahead of Thursday’s ECB meeting amid concerns over the diverging monetary policy stance between it and its major peers, as the bank attempts to combat growing deflationary pressures in the euro area.
The euro also slipped lower against the yen, with EUR/JPY easing 0.11% to 137.05.
Elsewhere Wednesday, the dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY at 102.57, not far from Tuesday’s highs of 102.91.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was at 81.65, hovering just below Tuesday’s 11-month
peaks of 80.70.