Investing.com - The euro edged higher against the U.S. dollar on Friday, but gains were expected to remain limited as investors remained cautious amid ongoing tensions between the West and Ukraine and ahead of comments by Federal Reserve officials.
EUR/USD hit 1.3811 during U.S. morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3792, adding 0.12%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3722, the low of March 6 and resistance at 1.3873, the high of March 6.
Markets were jittery after the European Union followed the U.S. in intensifying sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle to pressure his government to defuse the global standoff over Ukraine. The EU added on Friday 12 names to their list of Russians and Ukrainians punished with asset freezes and travel bans.
Earlier Friday, data showed that the euro zone current account surplus widened to €25.3 billion in January, from €20.0 billion in December, whose figure was revised down from a previously estimated surplus of €21.3 billion.
Analysts had expected the current account surplus to narrow to €18.4 billion in January.
Meanwhile, the greenback still found some supported after data on Thursday showed that U.S. initial jobless claims rose less-then-expected last week, while a separate report showed that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region expanded at a faster rate than expected in March.
In addition, Fitch Ratings on Friday affirmed U.S. long-term foreign and local currency credit ratings at AAA with a stable outlook, taking the country off negative ratings watch.
The euro was higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP rising 0.16% to 0.8362.
Also Friday, data showed that U.K. public sector net borrowing rose by £7.5 billion in February, compared to expectations for an increase of £8.6 billion, after a £6.4 billion decline the previous month.