Investing.com -- EUR/USD inched up on Tuesday, as currency traders digested further signals of heightened geopolitical instability after Turkey downed a Russia jet on the Syrian border.
The currency pair traded in a tight range between 1.0622 and 1.0674 before settling at 1.0642, up 0.0005 or 0.05% on the session. After suffering a three-day losing skid last week, the euro has closed higher against the dollar in three of the last five sessions. More broadly, the euro is down by 3.4% against the dollar over the last month of trading. On Monday, EUR/USD fell below 1.06 for the first time in seven months.
EUR/USD likely gained support at 1.0591, the low from November 23 and was met with resistance at 1.1073, the high from Oct. 30.
NATO called an emergency meeting on Tuesday afternoon after a Turkish F-16 jet plane shot down a Russian jet along the Turkish province of Hatay. Turkey claimed the jet violated its air space, adding that it issued 10 warnings to Russia in a span of five minutes before firing the shots, Pentagon officials told Fox News. Officials from the Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, claimed the jet remained within the borders of Syrian territory, citing "objective monitoring data." Russia president Vladimir Putin warned that the attacks could place a serious dent in Russian-Turkish relations, calling the actions "a shot in the back."
It came hours before France president Francois Hollande arrived in Washington for diplomatic talks with U.S. president Barack Obama on the collaborative efforts needed between Western powers in order to combat global terrorism. Hollande has scheduled a series of meetings with World leaders, including Putin in the wake of a terrorist attack in Paris earlier this month that claimed the lives of at least 120 civilians. Leaders from the Islamic State have accepted responsibility for the attacks. Speaking at a press conference at the White House,
Obama said he expects to be in communication with Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the coming days.
"Turkey like every country has the right to defend its air space," Obama said. "I think its important right now that the Russian and Turks are talking to each other, find out exactly what happened and take measures to discourage any type of escalation."
A series of terrorist attacks in recent weeks has dampened investors' confidence in the euro.
Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Commerce upwardly revised third quarter GDP growth by six tenths in its latest estimates to 2.1%. Inventories were revised upward from negative 1.4 to minus 0.6, while net exports continued to weigh on economic growth. Analysts expected revised estimates of third quarter GDP to increase to 2.1%.
The Federal Reserve continues to monitor economic indicators as it weighs whether to raise its benchmark Federal Funds Rate when it meets next month. Over the last three weeks, a host of Federal Open Market Committee members have sent strong indications that it will approve a rate hike for the first time in nearly a decade.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell more than 0.25% to an intraday low of 99.52, before closing at 99.68, down 0.18% on the session. The dollar was restrained by subdued consumer data, after the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell to its lowest level since last September.
On Monday, the index moved above 100 for the first time since mid-March.