Forexpros – The euro extended gains against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, climbing to a four-day high, after an auction of Italian government debt met with solid investor demand, while investors eyed the outcome of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers.
EUR/USD hit 1.3441 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since November 23; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3395, gaining 0.57%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3272, Monday’s low and resistance at 1.3530, the high of November 23.
Italy’s Treasury auctioned EUR7.5 billion of debt as borrowing costs surged to euro-era highs. The yield on new three-year bond was 7.89% and 10-year yields climbed to 7.56% from 6.06% at a similar auction last month.
The euro found support as Italian bond yields came off the highs they hit ahead of the auction, with the two-year yield easing back below the 7% threshold.
Meanwhile, euro zone finance ministers were to meet later in the day and were expected to approve plans to enlarge the scope of the region’s bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility. They were also expected to sign off on Greece’s next tranche of financial aid.
Elsewhere, the euro was lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.24% to hit 0.8564.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release industry data on house price inflation as well as a report on consumer confidence.
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