Forexpros – The euro moved higher against the U.S. dollar in Asian trade Tuesday,
as Wall Street shares managed slight gains and investors look to the Federal Reserve for action to stimulate the U.S. economy.
EUR/USD hit 1.4356 in early Asian trade, the pair’s lowest since August 21; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4362, rising 0.03%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.4260, last Friday’s low, and resistance at 1.4518, last Wednesday’s high.
U.S. stocks finished the day higher, ending a two-day losing streak with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.34%, to close at 10,854.70, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.15% to 2,345.38, and the S&P 500 eked out a 0.03% rise to 1,123.82.
European shares ended their trading day mixed, with France’s CAC 40 closing up 1.14% to 3,051.36, Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 1.08% to 5,095.30 while Germany’s DAX lost 0.11% to 5,473.78.
Earlier Monday the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that its national activity index had risen to minus 0.06 in July from minus 0.38 the previous month. Forecasts were for the Chicago Fed’s index to ease to minus 0.48 in July.
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index is compiled monthly to gauge overall U.S. economic activity and is generally seen as a harbinger of wider national trends.
The U.S. Federal Reserve was scheduled to hold its annual convention in Jackson Hole, Wyoming later this week. Market players were expected to pay close attention to a Friday speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for signs of further quantitative easing from the U.S. central bank.
Meanwhile, the euro was lower against the British pound but up against the Japanese yen, with EUR/GBP falling 0.01% to hit 0.8724, and EUR/JPY up by 0.15% to hit 110.43.
Europe’s Markit Economics was expected to release monthly figures for activity in the manufacturing sector for France and Germany on Tuesday.
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