Investing.com - The euro remained lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, trading within close distance of a 27-month trough as growing expectations for additional easing measures by the European Central Bank continued to weigh.
EUR/USD hit 1.2406 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's lowest since November 14; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2428, retreating 0.90%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2357, the low of November 7 and a 27-month low and resistance at 1.2576, Thursday's high.
The euro came under pressure after ECB President Mario Draghi reiterated on Friday that the central bank is prepared to act rapidly if low inflation persists.
Draghi also warned about weak growth in the euro zone, saying that no improvements are expected in the coming months.
The ECB head was speaking at the 24th European Banking Congress "Reshaping Europe," in Frankfurt.
The comments came a day after a report showed that the euro zone’s services purchasing managers’ index fell to 51.3 this month, while the manufacturing PMI slid to 50.4 from 50.6 in October.
The report said the PMI surveys pointed to economic growth of just 0.1% to 0.2% in the current quarter.
Meanwhile, he dollar remained supported after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said on Thursday that its manufacturing index jumped to a 21-year high of 40.8 this month from 20.7 in October.
Data also showed that U.S. sales of previously owned homes rose to a 13-month high in October.
However, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending November 15 decreased by a less-than-expected 2,000 to 291,000 from the previous week's revised total of 293,000.
The dollar also continued to be underpinned after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting indicated that officials believe the economic recovery is strong enough to withstand external threats to growth, but offered little additional clarity about when rates could start to rise.
The euro was also lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.71% to 0.7936.