Investing.com - The euro remained moderately lower against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as euro zone industrial production data released earlier in the day continued to weigh and the greenback continued to hold on to modest gains.
EUR/USD hit 1.2394 during U.S. morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2455, slipping 0.15%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2357, the low of November 7 and a 26-month low and resistance at 1.2568, the high of November 5.
Earlier Wednesday, Eurostat reported that industrial production in the euro zone increased by 0.6% in September, below forecasts for a gain of 1.0%. Industrial production in August fell by 1.4%.
Year-on-year, industrial production inched up 0.6% in September from a year earlier, compared to expectations for a 0.2% decline and after dropping at a rate of 0.5% in the preceding month.
The report added to concerns over the outlook for economic growth in the single currency bloc after weak Italian data on Monday fuelled fears that its economy is falling back into a recession.
Meanwhile, demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations that the recovery in the U.S. will outstrip other major economies.
The euro was higher against the pound, with EUR/GBP climbing 0.59% to 0.7881.
The pound came under pressure after the Bank of England said inflation is likely remain below its 2% target in the near term and fall below 1% at some point during the next six months. The bank now expects inflation to take three years to return to its 2% target.
The bank said the outlook for inflation had weakened due to steep declines in commodity prices and the sluggish outlook for global growth.
The annual rate of U.K. inflation fell to a five-year low of 1.2% in September.
The bank also said it continued to expect economic growth of 3.5% this year but pared its forecast for growth in 2015 to 2.9% from 3.1% in August.
Also Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics reported that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell by 20,400 in October, below expectations for a decline of 24,900.
The U.K. unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.0% in the three months to September, compared to forecast for a downtick to 5.9%.