Forexpros - The euro trimmed losses against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, pulling back from the session low but the pair remained rangebound amid concerns over a possible slowdown in China and after the release of mixed U.S. housing data.
EUR/USD pulled back from 1.3173, the session low to hit 1.3218 during U.S. morning trade, still down 0.15% on the day.
The pair was likely to find short-term support at 1.3141, Monday’s low and resistance at 1.3264, Monday’s high.
The greenback strengthened broadly earlier amid renewed concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy, after global miner BHP Billiton said that Chinese demand for iron ore is slackening, sparking concerns that commodity prices may decline.
In the U.S., official data showed that housing starts fell in February, but the number of building permits issued rose to the highest level since October 2008.
The Commerce Department said housing starts declined 1.1% last month to a seasonally adjusted 0.70 million from a revised 0.71 million units in January. Economists had forecast housing starts little changed at a 0.70 million-unit rate.
Building permits jumped 5.1% to a seasonally adjusted 0.72 million, above expectations for a modest 0.6% gain to 0.69 million.
In the euro zone, market participants were eyeing the outcome of talks between Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and union leaders to discuss reforms to the country’s labor market, as he attempts to turn around the euro zone’s third largest economy.
The euro was slightly higher against the pound and the yen, with EUR/GBP adding 0.11% to hit 0.8338 and EUR/JPY rising 0.17% to hit 110.51.
Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to speak at an event in Washington; his comments would be closely watched.
