Investing.com - The euro softened against the dollar on Thursday after data revealed the U.S. economy grew more in the third quarter than markets were expecting, data that published a day after the Federal Reserve said it was closing its monthly bond-buying program .
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was down 0.15% at 1.2614, up from a session low of 1.2548 and off a high of 1.2639.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2502, the low from Oct. 6, and resistance at 1.2772, Wednesday's high.
The Commerce Department reported earlier that the U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 3.5% in the three months to September, beating forecast for 3% growth, which fueled demand for the greenback on expectations that the Federal Reserve remains set to hike interest rates in 2015.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said it was ending its monthly bond-buying program due to improvements taking place in the labor market.
Still, the dollar didn't shoot up on Thursday, as the GDP report revealed that consumer spending slowed to 1.8% from 2.5% in the second quarter, and fixed investment spending also declined from the previous quarter, pointing to slackening domestic demand.
Elsewhere, the Labor Department reported earlier that the number of individuals filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by 3,000 to 287,000, confounding market forecasts for a decline to 283,000.
Meanwhile in the euro zone, preliminary data on Thursday revealed that German inflation was unchanged at 0.7% in October from a month earlier, the lowest level since May.
Separately, the number of people unemployed in Germany fell by 22,000 this month, compared to expectations for a gain of 5,000. The country’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7%.
Elsewhere, the euro was down against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.18% at 0.7876, and down against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.10% at 137.43.
On Friday, the euro zone is to release what will be closely watched preliminary data on consumer inflation, as well as a report on the unemployment rate. In addition, Germany is to report on retail sales, while France is to publish data on consumer spending.
The U.S. is to round up the week with data on personal income and expenditure as well as revised data on consumer sentiment and a report on business activity in the Chicago region.