Investing.com - The euro held steady against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as a positive U.S. consumer sentiment report supported the greenback, while upbeat euro zone economic growth data continued to support demand for the single curreny.
EUR/USD hit 1.3715 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since January 27; the pair subsequntly consolidated at 1.3687, easing up 0.05%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3618, the low of February 10 and resistance at 1.3738, the high of January 24.
In a preliminary report, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index remained unchanged at 81.2 this month, beating expectations for a fall to 80.6.
The report came after official data showed that U.S. industrial production fell 0.3% in January, compared to expectations for a 0.3% rise, after a 0.3% increase the previous month.
Data also showed that U.S. import prices rose 0.1% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.1% downtick, after a 0.2% rise in December.
The euro strengthened earlier, after preliminary data showed that the euro zone's gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% in the fourth-quarter, above expectations for a 0.2% expansion, after a 0.1% rise in the third quarter.
A separate report showed that German GDP rose 0.4% in the fourth quarter, exceeding expectations for a 0.3% expansion, and after a 0.3% rise in the three months to September.
In France, the GDP expanded by 0.3% in the last quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a 0.1% contraction in the third quarter.
The single currency was lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.31% to 0.8189.