CANBERA (Alliance News) - The euro strengthened against the other major currencies in the early European session on Wednesday, as sentiment lifted up amid positive earnings results, and investors await the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates.
The UK's FTSE 100 index is currently up 0.27% or 17.34 points at 6,382, France's CAC 40 index is up 0.67% or 32.36 points at 4,879 and Germany's DAX is up 0.70% or 76.27 points at 10,766.
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee will announce its monetary policy decision later in the day. The Fed is widely expected to hold rates at the current level of 0% to 0.25%.
While no one expects the Fed to raise rates, investors eye the accompanying statement for clues on a possible interest rate increase later this year.
Meanwhile, data from the GfK survey results showed that the forward-looking GfK consumer confidence index for November dropped to 9.4 from 9.6 in October. The score was in line with economists' expectations.
At the same time, data from Destatis showed that Germany's export prices climbed 0.3% yearly in September, but slower than August's 0.8% rise. The index has been increasing since September last year. On a monthly basis, export prices dropped for the second straight month by 0.3% in September, after a 0.5% fall in the prior month.
The import price index slid 4.0% year-over-year in September, exceeding economists' expectations for a 3.5% decrease. In August, prices had fallen 3.1%.
In the Asian trading today, the euro fell against its major rivals, as investors treaded cautiously ahead of the monetary policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve later today.
In the European trading, the euro rose to more than a 2-week high of 1.0904 against the Swiss franc and a 6-day high of 1.6436 against the NZ dollar, from early lows of 1.0881 and 1.6277, respectively. If the euro extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.10 against the franc and 1.71 against the kiwi.
Moving away from an early near 2-month low of 132.69 against the yen and a 2-day low of 1.1025 against the US dollar, the euro edged up to 133.19 and 1.1059, respectively. The euro may test resistance near 137.00 against the yen and 1.14 against the greenback.
Against the pound, the euro climbed to 0.7225 from an early low of 0.7202. The euro is likely to find resistance around the 0.74 area.
The euro advanced to a 6-day high of 1.5529 against the Australian dollar, from an early low of 1.5323. On the upside, 1.59 is seen as the next resistance level for the euro.
Meanwhile, the euro dropped to 1.4600 against the Canadian dollar from an early 6-day high of 1.4657. The euro may test support near the 1.43 area.
Looking ahead, US crude oil inventories report for the week ended October 23rd is slated for release in the New York session.
At 10:45 am ET, European Central Bank Vice President Vitor Constancio will deliver a speech on the topic "Macroprudential Policy in Europe: Ensuring Financial Stability in a Banking and Capital Markets Union" at Financial Stability Conference 2015 in Berlin.
At 2:00 pm ET, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee will announce its monetary policy decision. The Fed is widely expected to hold rates at the current level of 0% to 0.25%.
