Investing.com - The euro edged higher against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, as the single currency stabilized after a European Central Bank policymaker said Wednesday that the euro exchange rate was “not a matter of major concern”.
EUR/USD hit 1.3315 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3297, inching up 0.07%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3247, the low of January 11 and resistance at 1.3392, the high of January 15 and an almost 11-month high.
ECB governing council member Ewald Nowotny said that the situation in the euro zone had stabilized and indicated that the bank was not concerned over the euro’s recent gains.
The euro had weakened broadly after Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the euro group of finance ministers, said Tuesday that the euro’s value was “dangerously high” and posed a threat to the recovery in the euro zone.
Concerns over the outlook for growth lingered after Germany’s government said Wednesday that the economy will grow just 0.4% in 2013, down from its previous forecast for 1% growth.
The announcement came after the World Bank cut its forecast for global growth to 2.4% this year from 3% in June and warned that developing nations would struggle in 2013.
The Washington-based lender said the euro zone economy will contract by 0.1% in 2013, far below its most recent forecast for growth of 0.7%.
The euro was trading close to nine-month highs against the pound, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.11% to 0.8310 and turned higher against the yen, with EUR/JPY up 0.30% to 117.78.
The U.S. was to produce official data on building permits and housing starts later Thursday, in addition to the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and data on manufacturing activity in Philadelphia.
