Forexpros – The euro was almost unchanged against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, remaining broadly lower after government data showed that U.S. consumer prices were lower for the first time in four months, as concerns over the euro zone debt crisis weighed.
EUR/USD hit 1.3430 during European afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since October 10; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3475, shedding 0.47%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3360, the low of October 7 and resistance at 1.3538, the day’s high.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the consumer price index dropped 0.1% in October. Analysts had forecast CPI would be flat last month after rising 0.3% in September.
Year-on-year, consumer prices were up 3.5% after rising 3.9% in the full year through September.
Excluding food and energy costs, consumer prices rose 0.1% in October, broadly in line with expectations, after rising by 0.1% in September.
The euro remained under pressure after Italian lender Unicredit said it would ask the European Central Bank to extend its access to funding, fuelling concerns over the health of the region’s banking sector.
The yield on Italian 10-year bond yields hovered close to the 7% threshold widely seen as unsustainable, despite the ECB supporting the regional bond market by purchasing Italian and Spanish government debt.
The euro was also lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.14% to hit 0.8545.
Earlier Wednesday, official data showed that the rate of consumer inflation in the euro zone remained unchanged at 3% in October, in line with expectations.
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