Investing.com - The euro moved higher against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, easing off a two-and-a-half week trough after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said it was too early decide whether or not to add stimulus measures.
EUR/USD eased off 1.1105, the pair's lowest since September 4, to hit 1.1175 during U.S. morning trade, gaining 0.44%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.1086, the low of September 3 and resistance at 1.1209, Tuesday's high.
Speaking in Brussels, Draghi said that "more time is needed to determine in particular whether the loss of growth momentum in emerging markets is of a temporary or permanent nature and to assess the driving forces behind the recent episodes of severe financial turbulence."
The comments dampened hopes that the ECB could implement additional stimulus measures to bolster growth in the euro zone.
Earlier Wednesday, research group Markit reported that Germany's manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 52.5 in September from 53.3 the previous month, while the services PMI ticked down to 54.3 from 54.9.
France's manufacturing PMI ticked up to 50.4 this month from 48.3 in August, while the services PMI rose to 51.2 from 50.6.
For the entire euro zone, the composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing activity and services, slipped to 53.9 in September, Markit reported, from a reading of 54.3 in August.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after comments by some Federal Reserve officials Monday night indicated that a U.S. rate hike is still on the cards this year.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart indicated in separate remarks that the U.S. central bank is still likely to raise short-term interest rates this year.
Investors were looking ahead to a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen later in the week for additional clarity on the bank’s decision last week to leave interest rates on hold.
The euro was sharply higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rallying 1.23% to 0.7329.