Forexpros – The euro held gains against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as investors awaited the outcome of a meeting between French and German leaders to discuss proposals ahead of Friday’s critical European Union summit meeting.
EUR/USD hit 1.3460 during European early afternoon trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3433, gaining 0.31%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3362, Friday’s low and resistance at 1.3549, Friday’s high and an eight-day high.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to hold talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy later Monday, to outline proposals for stricter enforcement of euro zone budget discipline that will be presented to EU leaders at Friday’s summit.
The euro also found support after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti announced a EUR30 billion package of austerity measures designed to reduce the euro zone’s second-biggest debt on Sunday, including measures to raise taxes and increase the pension age.
Earlier Monday, official data showed that retail sales in the euro zone rose more-than-expected in October, advancing 0.4% after a 0.6% decline the previous month.
Analysts had expected retail sales to rise 0.2% in October.
A separate report showed that investor confidence in the euro zone fell more-than-expected this month, remaining in negative territory for the fifth consecutive month.
The euro was also fractionally higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.07% to hit 0.8592.
Also Monday, the U.S. was to release government data on factory orders, while the Institute of Supply Management was to produce a report on service sector activity.
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