Forex - EUR/USD hits 6-week low after weak euro zone data

Forex Pros – The euro dropped to a six-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, following a report showing that industrial production in the euro zone fell unexpectedly in March as output slowed sharply in Germany and Italy.

EUR/USD hit 1.4136 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since April 1; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4149, shedding 0.29%.

The pair was likely to find short-term support at 1.4019, the low of March 28 and resistance at 1.4422, Wednesday’s high.

Eurostat said industrial output dropped 0.2% from February, the first decline in six months, and was 5.3% higher than in March last year, marking the weakest annual gain for 13 months. Analysts had expected growth of 0.3% on the month and 6.3% year-on-year in March.

The report said growth in Germany and Italy slowed to 0.4% from 1.6% and 1.5% respectively in February, while output in France dropped 0.9% in March after rising the previous month.

Meanwhile, the euro trimmed gains against the pound, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.06% to hit 0.8688.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a report on initial jobless claims as well as official data on producer price inflation and retail sales. In addition, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to testify before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington.

ForexPros.com - Forex Pros offers a diverse set of professional tools for Forex, Futures and CFDs. These include real-time data streams, technical and fundamental analysis by in-house experts, and a widely used economic calendar and

.