Investing.com - The euro edged higher against the U.S. dollar on Thursday after the release of some mixed U.S. economic data but the single currency remained close to four month lows following the European Central Bank’s monetary easing.
EUR/USD edged up 0.06% to 1.3539, still within striking distance of the four-month low of 1.3502 reached last Thursday.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3500 and resistance at 1.3601, Tuesday’s high.
The Labor Department reported that the number of people filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 7 increased by 4,000 to 317,000. The consensus forecast had been for a decline of 3,000.
The unexpected increase in jobless claims was not seen as altering the view that the labor market is continuing to gradually improve.
At the same time, the Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose 0.3% in May, falling short of expectations for a 0.6% gain. However, retail sales for April were revised up to a 0.5% gain from a previously reported increase of 0.1%.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, eased up 0.1% in May, disappointing forecasts for a 0.2% increase. Core sales in April were revised up to 0.4% from a previously reported flat reading.
The single currency remained broadly weaker after the ECB cut all its main rates to record lows last Thursday and imposed negative deposit rates on commercial lenders for the first time, in a bid to stave off the risk of deflation in the euro zone.
The single currency showed little reaction after data earlier in the day showed that industrial production in the euro area rose 0.8% in April, ahead of forecasts for a 0.4% increase.
The euro fell to fresh one-and-a-half year lows against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.21% to 0.8042, the weakest level since December 2012.
Sterling was boosted after an upbeat U.K. jobs report on Wednesday bolstered expectations that the Bank of England will hike rates sooner than expected.
The euro was close to four month lows against the yen, with EUR/JPY at 138.02, just above the lows of 137.86 set on Wednesday, the weakest since February.
Elsewhere, the dollar edged lower against the yen, with USD/JPY slipping 0.09% to 101.97, not far from the more than one-week low of 101.85 struck in the previous session.