Investing.com – The euro was trading close to a four month high against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, boosted by expectations of a near-term interest rate hike by the European Central Bank while rising oil prices continued to hurt the greenback.
EUR/USD hit 1.3883 during European late afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since November 9; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3877, surging 0.73%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3646, the low of February 23 and resistance at 1.3973, the high of November 9.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that euro zone producer prices rose at the fastest pace in 29 years in January.
Eurostat said industrial producer prices jumped 1.5% from December, the strongest gain since January 1982.
On an annual basis, producer prices were 6.1% higher than in January 2010, the sharpest year-to-year increase since October 2008. In December, industrial producer prices rose 0.8% on a monthly basis and 5.3% annually.
Eurostat said the monthly jump in producer prices was driven in large part by higher energy costs.
Also Wednesday, a report by payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. private sector employment rose by 217,000 in February, better than the expected 170,000.
Meanwhile, crude futures for delivery in April were trading at USD100.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after peaking at USD101.27 earlier in the day.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.33% to hit 0.8498.
Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to testify for a second day before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington, while the Fed was to publish its Beige Book.
EUR/USD hit 1.3883 during European late afternoon trade, the pair’s highest since November 9; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3877, surging 0.73%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3646, the low of February 23 and resistance at 1.3973, the high of November 9.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that euro zone producer prices rose at the fastest pace in 29 years in January.
Eurostat said industrial producer prices jumped 1.5% from December, the strongest gain since January 1982.
On an annual basis, producer prices were 6.1% higher than in January 2010, the sharpest year-to-year increase since October 2008. In December, industrial producer prices rose 0.8% on a monthly basis and 5.3% annually.
Eurostat said the monthly jump in producer prices was driven in large part by higher energy costs.
Also Wednesday, a report by payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. private sector employment rose by 217,000 in February, better than the expected 170,000.
Meanwhile, crude futures for delivery in April were trading at USD100.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after peaking at USD101.27 earlier in the day.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.33% to hit 0.8498.
Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to testify for a second day before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington, while the Fed was to publish its Beige Book.