Forexpros – The euro rose to an intra-day high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after a report showing that manufacturing activity in the U.S. rose at the fastest pace in five months in November supported risk appetite.
EUR/USD hit 1.3512 during U.S. morning trade, the intra-day high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3503, gaining 0.43%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3416, the days low and resistance at 1.3568, the high of November 22.
In a report, the Institute of Supply Management said manufacturing activity in the U.S. rose more-than-expected last month, with its index of purchasing managers rising by 1.9 points to 52.7, up from 50.8 in October.
Analysts had expected the ISM index of purchasing managers to ease up by 0.7 points to 51.5 in November.
The data came after the U.S. Department of Labor said new claims for unemployment benefits climbed to a seasonally adjusted 402,000 last week from an upwardly revised 396,000 the previous week, rising above 400,000 for the first time in just over a month.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to decline to 390,000 last week.
Earlier Thursday, auctions of French and Spanish government debt met with better-than-expected investor demand, supporting the euro.
Spain’s Treasury auctioned the full targeted amount of EUR3.75 billion of government bonds, with yields staying below the critical 7% threshold. The average yield on Spain’s five-year bonds was 5.54%, compared with 4.84% in early November.
Meanwhile, France auctioned EUR4.5 billion of debt, including EUR1.57 billion of 10-year bonds at an average yield of 3.18%, down from 3.22% at a similar auction last month.
The auctions were seen as a major test of investor confidence, coming one day after six major central banks, including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank cut the cost of emergency dollar funding for European banks in a coordinated action.
The euro was also higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.11% to hit 0.8573.
Also Thursday, ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank was ready to take stronger action to fight the region’s debt crisis if political leaders agree on much tighter budget controls in the euro zone at a summit meeting next week.
Forexpros
