Investing.com - The euro was flat against the dollar on Thursday, holding in a narrow range as investors digested mixed U.S. data coupled with reports a Malaysian Airlines went down in Ukraine.
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was unchanged at 1.3525, up from a session low of 1.3517 and off a high of 1.3540.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3513, the low from June 16, and resistance at 1.3640, Monday's high.
Investors were tracking news reports that a Malaysian Airlines plane crashed over Ukraine, with wire report saying the aircraft has been shot down.
The single currency bounced in and out of positive territory as markets went into neutral as investors awaited confirmation of the plane crash and its cause.
Mixed data kept investors on the sidelines in early afternoon trading as well.
the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index improved to a more than three-year high of 23.9 this month from June’s reading of 17.8. Analysts had expected the index to dip to 16.0 in July.
The data came after the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 12 declined by 3,000 to 302,000 from the previous week’s total of 305,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 5,000 to 310,000 last week.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued last month fell by 4.2% to 963,000 units from May’s total of 991,000. Analysts expected building permits to rise by 4.2% to 1.04 million units in June.
The dollar had found support after Ms. Yellen said Tuesday that rates could rise sooner if the economic recovery continued to improve. However, the Fed chair also said that if the recovery was disappointing monetary policy would remain accommodative.
Elsewhere, the euro was up against the pound, with EUR/GBP up 0.23% at 0.7910, and down against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.37% at 137.02.