Investing.com - The euro remained near eight-month lows against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as growing optimism over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery supported the greenback, while poor German business climate data still pressured the single currency lower.
EUR/USD hit 1.3428 during European afternoon trade, the pair's lowest since November 2013; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3441, slipping 0.16%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3298 and resistance at 1.3485, Thursday's high.
The greenback strengthened further after official data showed that U.S. durable goods orders rose 0.7% last month, beating expectations for a 0.5% gain, after a decline of 1% in May, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.9% fall.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items, advanced by 0.8% in June, compared to expectations for a 0.6% rise, after a 0.1% downtick in May, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated flat reading.
The data came after a report on Thursday showed that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level in more than eight years last week, fuelling speculation over the timing of a possible rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after the Ifo Institute for Economic Research reported that its German business climate index fell to a nine-month low of 108.0 this month, from a reading of 109.7 in June. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 109.4 in July.
A separate report showed that the Gfk German consumer climate index rose to a seven-and-a-half year high of 9.0 this month, from a reading of 8.9 in June. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged in July.
The euro was also lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP edging down 0.18% to 0.7912.
In the U.K., preliminary data earlier showed that the gross domestic product rose 0.8% in the second quarter, in line with market expectations.