Investing.com - The euro fell to session lows against the dollar on Wednesday, shrugging off upbeat reports on euro zone private sector activity and retail sales, ahead of the European Central Bank’s meeting on Thursday.
EUR/USD hit lows of 1.3707, the weakest since Friday, and was last down 0.22% to 1.3711.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3685 and resistance at 1.3743, the session high.
The euro remained lower despite data on Wednesday confirming that the final euro zone composite purchasing managers’ index was revised up to a 32-month high of 53.3 from a preliminary estimate of 52.7.
The euro area services PMI rose 52.6 in February, from a final reading of 51.6 in January and higher than the flash estimate of 51.7.
Germany’s composite PMI soared to a 33-month high but France’s fell to a two-month low of 47.7. The rate of growth in Italy’s service sector rose to an almost three year high last month.
Separately, Eurostat reported that retail sales in the euro zone rose 1.6% in January, easily surpassing expectations for a 0.8% gain, and were 1.3% higher from a year earlier, confounding expectations for a 0.4% decline.
Another report confirmed that the euro zone economy expanded 0.3% in the fourth quarter and grew 0.5% on a year-over-year basis.
Investors remained cautious ahead of the ECB’s monthly policy meeting on Thursday amid concerns that the bank could tighten monetary policy to help shore up the fragile recovery in the region.
The single currency was little changed against the yen, with EUR/JPY trading at 140.44, after falling to lows of 139.25 on Tuesday.
The euro was lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.22% to 0.8229.
In the U.K., data on Wednesday showed that service sector activity dipped slightly in February but still showed robust growth.
The Markit U.K. services PMI came in at 58.2. It was the lowest reading in eight months, but was little changed from January’s reading of 58.1. Orders rose more quickly the report said, and optimism about the coming year hit its highest for four and a half years.