Investing.com - The euro was lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as expectations for additional stimulus measures by the European Central Bank dampened demand for the single currency, while upbeat U.S. housing sector data supported the greenback.
EUR/USD hit 1.0795 during U.S. morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0822, sliding 0.56%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0717, the low of January 6 and resistance at 1.0922, Thursday’s high.
The euro remained under pressure after ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that it would be necessary to “review and reconsider” the bank’s monetary policy stance at its next meeting in March, when new economic projections become available.
Adding to those comments on Friday morning, Draghi said the bank has “plenty of instruments” to reach price stability in the euro area and that it has “the determination, the willingness and the capacity of the Governing Council to act and deploy these instruments.”
Earlier Friday, research group Markit said its preliminary German manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked down to 52.1 in January from 53.2 the previous month. Germany’s services PMI fell to 55.4 from 56.0.
The French manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.0 this month from 51.4 in December, while the services PMI rose to 50.6 from 49.8.
For the entire euro zone, the composite PMI, which includes manufacturing and service sector activity, ticked down to 53.5 in January from 54.3 in December.
In the U.S., the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales increased by 14.7% to 5.46 million units in December, compared to expectations for a 8.9% rise. Existing home sales dropped by 10.5% to 4.76 million in November.
The euro was sharply lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP tumbling 1.47% to 0.7531.
Also Friday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said retail sales declined by 1.0% in December, confounding expectations for a 0.3% slip. Year-on-year, retail sales rose 2.6%.
Core retail sales, which exclude auto sales and fuel, fell 0.9% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.3% downtick.
A separate report showed that U.K. public sector net borrowing rose by £6.87 billion in December, less than the expected increase of £10.35 billion.