CANBERA (Alliance News) - The euro drifted higher against other major currencies on Friday, as consumer price inflation in the euro region edged up in February, relieving the pressure on the European Central Bank to act at its meeting next week. Eurozone inflation came in at 0.8% for the third consecutive month in February, flash estimate from Eurostat showed today. The rate was forecast to slow to 0.7%. Inflation has stayed below the European Central Bank's target of 'below, but close to 2%' for the thirteenth consecutive month and matched a four-year low. The euro area unemployment rate has remained at 12% since October, separate data revealed today. The rate matched economists' expectations The euro appreciated to 1.3813 against the greenback for the first time since December 31. Continuation of uptrend may take the euro to a resistance at the 1.39 area. The euro snapped back from an early 10-day low of 0.8191 against the pound, rising to a 3-day high of 0.8254. If the euro extends advance, it may eye resistance around the 0.835 mark. House prices in the UK increased at a notably faster pace in February, and to a greater extent than forecast by economists, data from a survey showed today. The house price index advanced 9.4% annually, after gaining 8.8% in January, the Nationwide Housing Society said. Following a decline to 139.12 against the yen in Asian deals, the European single currency reached a 2-day high of 140.68. On the upside, 143.00 is seen as the resistance for the euro. Overall nationwide consumer prices were up 1.4% on year in January, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said today - topping forecasts for 1.3% but slowing from 1.6% in December. Core consumer prices were up 1.3% on year - matching expectations and unchanged from the previous month. Although the euro recovered from an early more than 10-month low of 1.2150 against the franc, it failed to sustain gains. The pair was worth 1.2180 at yesterday's close. A measure of the health of the Swiss economy rose in February to its highest level in nearly 30 months, the KOF Swiss Economic Institute said today. The KOF Economic Barometer sustained its rising trend and climbed to 2.03 from January's 2.01, revised from 1.98. The spiked up to 1.5372 against the Canadian dollar, a level unseen since December 2009. The euro also advanced to more than a 3-week high of 1.5412 against the aussie, off early 2-day low of 1.5251. The euro may test resistance around the 1.55 level against both the aussie and the loonie. Canada GDP data for December, second estimate of US GDP data for the fourth quarter, pending home sales for January and Reuters/University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for February are set for release in the New York session.

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