Forexpros – The euro rose to a session high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, following the release of upbeat U.S. data on employment and housing but gains were limited as concerns over sovereign debt contagion to core euro zone economies weighed.
EUR/USD hit 1.3521 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3503, gaining 0.30%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3360, the low of October 10 and resistance at 1.3640, Tuesday’s high.
The Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to a seven-month low.
The number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending November 11 fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, confounding expectations for an increase to 395,000.
A separate report showed that the number of building permits issued in the U.S. rose more-than-expected in October, climbing to the highest level since March 2010.
The number of building permits issued rose 9.2% to a seasonally adjusted 0.65 million from 0.59 million in September.
Analysts had expected building permits to rise 1.6% to 0.60 million units in October.
U.S. housing starts were largely unchanged in October, holding steady at a seasonally adjusted 0.63 million, compared to expectations for a decline to 0.61 million.
The euro was trading close to a five-week low against the greenback earlier, after Spanish 10-year bond yields surged to a euro-era high of 6.97%, close to the 7% threshold widely seen as unsustainable in the long term.
Meanwhile, French 10-year bond yields also climbed to their highest level since the inception of the single currency, adding to fears over sovereign debt contagion to core euro zone economies.
The euro was fractionally higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.04% to hit 0.8559.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish official data on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region.
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