Investing.com - The euro added to gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, rising to a five-week high, boosted by hopes for a deal on restructuring Greece’s debt and after stronger-than-forecast U.S. manufacturing data.
EUR/USD hit 1.3184 during U.S. morning trade, the pair’s highest since December 21; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3166, gaining 0.45%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2952, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.3236, the high of December 13.
Talks on a debt swap deal between debt strapped Greece and its private creditors were to resume in Athens later in the day.
Ahead of the talks, Greek media outlets reported that the country’s creditors were prepared to accept lower interest rates on new bonds to be issued to replace their existing Greek holdings.
An agreement is necessary if Greece is to get the next tranche of bailout funds that would prevent a devastating debt default. Greece does not have enough money to cover a EUR14.5 billion bond repayment due March 20.
Elsewhere, Italy successfully auctioned EUR5 billion of government debt earlier, in a bond auction which met with solid investor demand at sharply lower yields, ahead of an auction of medium to long term debt on Monday.
In the U.S., official data showed that new orders for long lasting manufactured goods climbed for a third month in December, while a separate report showed that initial jobless claims rose only slightly last week.
The U.S. Census Bureau said core durable goods orders rose 2.1% in December after a 0.5% rise the previous month, surpassing expectations for a 0.9% rise.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending January 21 rose to 377,000 from 356,000 the previous week. Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to rise to 370,000 last week.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said interest rates would remain near zero until late 2014 and the bank’s Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at more quantitative easing if growth falters.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP adding 0.26% to hit 0.8394.
Also Thursday, official data showed that U.S. new home sales dropped unexpectedly in December, falling 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted 307,000 unit rate, confounding expectations for a 2% gain to 320,000.
EUR/USD hit 1.3184 during U.S. morning trade, the pair’s highest since December 21; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3166, gaining 0.45%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2952, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.3236, the high of December 13.
Talks on a debt swap deal between debt strapped Greece and its private creditors were to resume in Athens later in the day.
Ahead of the talks, Greek media outlets reported that the country’s creditors were prepared to accept lower interest rates on new bonds to be issued to replace their existing Greek holdings.
An agreement is necessary if Greece is to get the next tranche of bailout funds that would prevent a devastating debt default. Greece does not have enough money to cover a EUR14.5 billion bond repayment due March 20.
Elsewhere, Italy successfully auctioned EUR5 billion of government debt earlier, in a bond auction which met with solid investor demand at sharply lower yields, ahead of an auction of medium to long term debt on Monday.
In the U.S., official data showed that new orders for long lasting manufactured goods climbed for a third month in December, while a separate report showed that initial jobless claims rose only slightly last week.
The U.S. Census Bureau said core durable goods orders rose 2.1% in December after a 0.5% rise the previous month, surpassing expectations for a 0.9% rise.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending January 21 rose to 377,000 from 356,000 the previous week. Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to rise to 370,000 last week.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said interest rates would remain near zero until late 2014 and the bank’s Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at more quantitative easing if growth falters.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP adding 0.26% to hit 0.8394.
Also Thursday, official data showed that U.S. new home sales dropped unexpectedly in December, falling 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted 307,000 unit rate, confounding expectations for a 2% gain to 320,000.