Investing.com - The euro was trading close to three month lows against the dollar on Wednesday as expectations for easing by the European Central Bank at its upcoming meeting next week pressure the single currency lower.
EUR/USD was down 0.12% to 1.3619, not far from the three-month trough of 1.3611 plumbed on Tuesday.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3575 and resistance at 1.3645.
The euro has weakened broadly against the other major currencies, falling more than 2% against the dollar since the ECB indicated at its May 8 meeting that it is comfortable with easing monetary policy as soon as its next meeting in June, to tackle low levels of inflation in the region.
On Tuesday, ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank was aware of the risks of persistently low inflation and was prepared to take steps to get euro zone inflation back to its target, the latest indication that the bank could ease monetary policy as soon as next week.
The annual rate of euro zone inflation was 0.7% in April, well below the ECB's target of close to but just below 2%.
Meanwhile, data on Wednesday showed that the number of people unemployed in Germany rose by the largest amount in five years in May. The seasonally adjusted jobless total rose by 24,000 this month to 2.905 million, compared to expectations for a fall of 15,000.
The German unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7%, well below the euro zone average of 11.8%.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned after data on Tuesday showed that U.S. durable goods orders rose unexpectedly in April and another report showed that U.S. consumer confidence improved in line with forecasts this month.
The Commerce Department said orders for long lasting manufactured goods rose 0.8%, compared to expectations of a 0.7% decline.
Separately, the Conference Board reported that its consumer conference index rose to 83 in May, up from a revised 81.7 in April, in line with economists’ expectations.
The euro was also lower against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.23% to 138.73, holding above the more than three month low of 138.13 struck last Wednesday.
Elsewhere, the euro pushed higher against sterling, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.13% to 0.8122, recovering from the 17-month low of 0.8080 set last Friday.