Euro Advances Against Majors

(RTTNews) - The euro was higher against its major counterparts in the European session on Wednesday, as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data failed to hurt expectations of interest-rate cuts in the coming months.

Traders still expect the Fed to start cutting rates in June even as data suggested some stickiness in inflation.

Markets now eagerly await U.S. producer price inflation and retail sales figures this week to gauge the central bank's potential path for interest rate cuts.

Traders also look ahead to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on March 19 and 20 for signals of possible rate cut timings.

Data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone industrial production declined for the first time in three months in January largely reflecting the weakness in capital goods output.

Industrial output fell 3.2 percent on a monthly basis, reversing December's 1.6 percent increase. This was the first decrease in three months and also came in weaker than economists' forecast of 1.5 percent fall.

The euro climbed to 5-day highs of 161.95 against the yen and 0.9606 against the franc, off its early lows of 160.89 and 0.9574, respectively. The euro is seen finding resistance around 164.00 against the yen and 0.995 against the franc.

The euro advanced to a 2-day high of 1.0947 against the greenback and a 6-day high of 1.7784 against the kiwi, off its previous lows of 1.0919 and 1.7712, respectively. The next possible resistance for the euro is seen around 1.12 against the greenback and 1.80 against the kiwi.

The euro reached as high as 0.8552 against the pound. If the currency rises further, it may find resistance around the 0.88 level.

In contrast, the euro eased to 1.6516 against the aussie and 1.4724 against the loonie, from an early high of 1.6555 and a 2-day high of 1.4762, respectively. The currency may locate support around 1.62 against the aussie and 1.46 against the loonie.