Forexpros – The euro steadied against the U.S. dollar on Monday, trading close to a two-year low as sustained concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone and global economic growth continued to weigh on market sentiment.
EUR/USD hit 1.2256 during late Asian trade, a two-year low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2285, inching up 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2256, the session low and resistance at 1.2400, last Friday’s high.
Risk sentiment was hit on Friday, after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the economy added 80,000 jobs in June, below market forecasts for a gain of around 90,000.
April figures were revised to 68,000 from 77,000 jobs, while May’s numbers were revised to 77,000 from 69,000.
Although the data was weaker than expected, many investors said it was not bad enough to spur the Federal Reserve to launch a third round of quantitative easing, sending the greenback broadly higher.
The report also showed that the U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 8.2% in June, in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, data showing earlier Monday that consumer and producer price inflation in China eased more-than-expected in June added to concerns over the outlook for growth in the world’s second largest economy.
The data came after the People’s Bank of China cut interest rates for the second time in less than a month on Thursday.
The European Central Bank also cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low 0.75% on Thursday, in a bid to bolster faltering growth in the region.
Investors were eyeing a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later in the day, to discuss a plan announced last month to help the region’s indebted nations and banking systems, although the meeting was widely expected to highlight the deal’s limitations and not announce any breakthrough steps.
Elsewhere, the euro was also steady against the pound with EUR/GBP easing 0.03%, to hit 0.7932.
Later Monday, a report was to be produced on investor confidence in the euro zone, while ECB President Draghi was due to testify before the European Parliament.
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