Investing.com - The euro moved up from 11-month lows against the dollar on Thursday, mainly as investors sold the greenback for profits to wait for Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech before the annual Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday.
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was up 0.19% at 1.3284, up from a session low of 1.3242 and off a high of 1.3289.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3242, the session low, and resistance at 1.3412, Friday's high.
The Federal Reserve released the minutes of its July policy meeting on Wednesday, and the document revealed that rate hikes could come sooner rather than later if the labor market continues to recover, which initially bolstered the dollar.
Profit taking sent the greenback edging lower on Thursday, as many investors bet Fed Chair Janet Yellen will provide dovish words in a Jackson Hole speech on Friday to complement the hawkish minutes in order to convey to markets that even though rates will rise, monetary authorities will make sure they do so gradually.
Upbeat U.S. data took a back seat to Yellen expectations in late-morning trading on Thursday.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index topped a three-year high of 28.0 this month from July’s 23.9 reading. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 19.2 in July.
Separately, market research group Markit said that its preliminary U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index increased to a four-year high of 58.0 this month from a final reading of 55.8 in July. Analysts had expected the index to ease down to 55.7 in August.
Data also showed that U.S. existing home sales increased 2.4% to 5.15 million units last month from 5.03 million in June. Analysts had expected existing home sales to dip 0.4% to 5.02 million units in July.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Aug. 16 decreased by 14,000 to 298,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 312,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall by 12,000 to 300,000 last week.
Meanwhile in Europe, data showed that activity in the euro zone’s manufacturing sector slowed to a 13-month low in August, with the euro zone manufacturing PMI down to 50.8 from 51.8 in July. Economists had forecast a decline to 51.3.
The region’s services PMI slid to 53.5 from 54.2 in July, in line with forecasts.
Activity in Germany’s factor sector slowed but remained solid, while manufacturing activity in France contracted for a sixth successive month.
Elsewhere, the euro was up against the pound, with EUR/GBP up 0.21% at 0.8007, and up against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.26% at 137.93.
On Friday, expect markets to move on speeches delivered by Fed Chair Janet Yellen and ECB President Mario Draghi at the annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.