The European common currency advanced against majors after the data released showing that trade surplus widened in July, boosting hopes euro-area economies will lead global recovery.
On the other hand, the pound slipped after the grim retail sales report that showed worse than expected fall in August which added to signs the UK economy will have sluggish growth in the second half of the year.
Concerning the euro-dollar pair, it is inclining on the daily charts for the fifth consecutive session on improved outlook fro the euro zone after the European Commission had raised growth forecasts for the current year earlier this week.
Today, data released showed that trade surplus widened in July to 6.7 billon euros from the surplus of 2.2 billion euros, while the seasonally adjusted reading also showed improvement as the deficit narrowed to 0.2 billion euros compared with the revised deficit of 1.4 billion euros.
Now, the pair is trading at 1.3078 after recording a high of 1.3086 and a low of 1.2974, while the trading range for today is among the key support at 1.2825 and the key resistance at 1.3145.
Turning to the sterling-dollar pair, it slipped on the daily charts but stopped its decline as it got support at 1.5580. The pair was pushed down after retail sales with auto fuel fell to -0.5% in August compared with median estimates of 0.3%, July's reading of 1.1% that was revised to 0.8%.
Meanwhile, the royal pair is trading at 1.5586 after visiting a high of 1.5648 and a low of 1.5535, whereas the trading range for today is among the key support at 1.5470 and the key resistance at 1.5785.
Looking at other European currencies, we see that franc is retreating against the dollar and euro ahead of the SNB rate decision later in the day where expectations are in favor of keeping borrowing cost unchanged at 0.25%.
With regard to the dollar-yen pair, it is little changed trading close to the day's opening price after dropping earlier to a low of 85.21. The pair did downside correction after yesterday's sharp rise that accompanied the BoJ intervention.
Yesterday, Japanese policy makers decided to intervene for the first time in FOREX market through selling yen to weaken the currency that hovered above 15-year high against the dollar to protect national exporters and boost growth, while today they announced that the bank may intervene again as long as the economy is in jeopardy.
The pair is currently seen trading at 85.67 while the trading range for today is among the key support at 84.00 and the key resistance at 86.75.
