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EUR/USD slides on upbeat U.S. growth and jobs data

Investing.com -


Investing.com - Buoyant U.S. economic growth and weekly jobless claims reports bolstered the dollar against the euro on Thursday, while ongoing expectations for the European Central Bank to loosen policy weakened the single currency even further.


In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was down 0.30% at 1.3743, up from a session low of 1.3728 and off a high of 1.3828.


The pair was likely to find support at 1.3707, the low from March 5, and resistance at 1.3876, Monday's high.


A fresh batch of improving U.S. economic indicators kept expectations firm that the Federal Reserve will wind down monthly asset purchases this year and hike rates the next, which strengthened the dollar on Thursday.


The Fed's asset-purchasing program, currently set at $55 billion in Treasury and mortgage debt a month, weakens the dollar by suppressing long-term interest rates to spur investing and hiring.


The Commerce Department reported earlier that U.S. gross domestic product was revised up to 2.6% in the final three months of 2013, from a preliminary estimate of 2.4%. Market expectations had been for an upward revision to 2.7%.


The report showed that personal spending was revised up to 3.3% from 2.6% initially, the fastest rate of growth in three years, which drew applause from investors.


Separately, the Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. last week declined by 10,000 to a 311,000 from the previous week's revised total of 321,000.


Analysts were expecting jobless claims to rise by 4,000.


Thursday's sunny data fueled already growing opinions that a spate of disappointing economic indicators released earlier in the year were the product of rough winter weather and not due to an underlying decline in demand.


The dollar also continued to applaud the Commerce Department's Wednesday announcement that U.S. durable goods orders rose 2.2% in February, wiping out two months of declines and surpassing expectations for a 1.0% increase.


Elsewhere, the euro came under pressure of its own on expectations for ECB to loosen policy in the near future.


Earlier this week European Central Bank officials indicated that they are considering fresh policy options to stave off the risk of deflation in the region, including negative deposit rates or liquidity injections.


The euro was down against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.54% to 0.8269, and down against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.31% at 140.25.


On Friday in the euro zone, Germany is to produce preliminary data on consumer inflation, while France is to publish data on consumer spending.


The U.S. is to round up the week with a report on personal spending and revised data on consumer sentiment.


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