Forexpros – The euro moved higher against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth consecutive month, as investors awaited euro zone data on manufacturing and service sector activity later in the day.
EUR/USD hit 1.3254 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3242, gaining 0.20%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3141, the low of March 19 and resistance at 1.3284, Wednesday’s high and an almost two-week high.
Preliminary data from HSBC showed that China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 48.1 in March, from a final reading of 49.6 the previous month, as new orders dropped to their lowest level since November.
The data underlined concerns over a possible slowdown in growth in the world’s second largest economy.
But the euro found support ahead of the release of data on manufacturing and service sector activity for the region, as well as from Germany and France later in the day, amid expectations that the data would show an improvement.
The euro was up against the pound, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.20% to hit 0.8342 and inched higher against the yen, with EUR/JPY easing up 0.04% to hit 110.22.
Also Thursday, the euro zone was also to produce data on industrial production, while the U.S. was to publish official data on initial jobless claims. In addition, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were to speak at public engagements.
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