Forexpros – The euro traded lower against the dollar early Friday as investors braced for June unemployment data in the U.S.
Numbers disappointed in April and in May especially, and uncertainty over June data sent investors to the safety of the greenback.
In Asian trading on Friday, EUR/USD was trading down 0.10% at 1.2379, up from a session low of 1.2367 and off from a high of 1.2401.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2364, the low from July 5, and resistance at 1.2607, the high from July 4.
The euro also traded lower on the heels of a European Central Bank decision to trim its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 0.75%.
A Bank of England decision to inject GBP50 billion into the economy via stimulus measures followed by interest rate cuts in China pressured the dollar upwards as well.
Spanish industrial production fell 6.1% in May, better than market forecasts for a contraction of 8.5%, which gave the euro some support.
April’s industrial production contracted 8.3%.
In the U.S. on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that weekly initial jobless claims hit a six-month low at 374,000 last week, down from a previous figure of 388,000 and below market calls for 385,000 claims.
Private-sector employment figures hinted at possible recovery in the U.S. labor market as well.
ADP Employer Services on Thursday reported that U.S. companies added 176,000 workers in June, compared with 136,000 in May.
The service sector in the U.S., however, slipped in June, a separate report shows.
The Institute of Supply Management’s non-manufacturing purchasing manager’s index fell to 52.1 in June from 53.7 in May.
Markets were predicting a 53.0 reading.
The euro, meanwhile, was down against the pound and down against the yen, with EUR/GBP down 0.18% at 0.7968 and EUR/JPY trading down 0.17% at 98.87.
Forexpros
