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Forex - EUR/USD near 11-month lows ahead of Fed minutes

Published 08/20/2014, 11:37 AM
Updated 08/20/2014, 11:39 AM
Euro hovers near 11-month lows against dollar on expectations for upbeat Fed minutes

Investing.com - The euro traded near 11-month lows against the dollar on Wednesday as investors remained camped out in greenback positions ahead of the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting.

In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was down 0.23% at 1.3289, up from a session low of 1.3275 and off a high of 1.3324.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.3254, the low from Sept. 13, 2013, and resistance at 1.3412, Friday's high.

The Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its most recent policy meeting later in the day, and investors were expecting a reasonably uptake assessment on the U.S. economy, especially due to recent U.S. data.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued in July jumped 8.1% to 1.052 million units from June’s total of 973,000. Analysts expected building permits to rise by 2.5% to 1.0 million units in July.

The report also showed that U.S. housing starts soared by 15.7% last month to hit 1.093 million units from June’s total of 945,000, far past expectations for an increase of 8.6% to 969,000 units.

A separate report showed that the U.S. consumer price index rose 0.1% last month from June and 2.0% on year, both figures meeting estimates.

Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, inched up by 0.1% last month, missing expectations for a 0.2% gain, though the year-on-year rate came in at 1.9%, which met expectations.

On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index increased to 55.0 in August, a seven-month high, from 53.0 in July, beating estimates for a reading of 53.0.

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Markets are expecting Federal Reserve to close its asset-purchasing stimulus program in October and hike interest rates some time in 2015, and many were hoping the minutes due out later will provide clues as to when next year rate hikes may begin.

Elsewhere, the euro was up against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.35% at 0.7988, and up against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.18% at 137.34.

On Thursday, the euro zone is to publish preliminary data on private sector activity, while Germany and France are to also to publish data on private sector growth.

The U.S. is to produce data on unemployment claims, manufacturing activity and existing home sales.

The first day of the annual economic symposium is due to take place in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

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