Investing.com -
Investing.com - Lukewarm U.S. retail sales data weakened the dollar against the euro on Thursday by reminding investors that recovery still battles headwinds and the timing of Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes still remains up in the air.
In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was up 0.13% at 1.3548, up from a session low of 1.3512 and off a high of 1.3566.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3503, the low from June 5, and resistance at 1.3677, Friday's high.
The Commerce Department reported earlier that U.S. retail sales rose 0.3% in May, missing 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.
Separately, the Labor Department reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 7 increased by 4,000 to 317,000, confounding expectations for a decline of 3,000, though markets largely shrugged off the report.
The data kept markets rethinking how much time will elapse after the Federal Reserve concludes stimulus programs and before the U.S. central bank hikes interest rates.
Meanwhile in Europe, data released earlier revealed that euro zone industrial production rose 0.8% in April, according to Eurostat, beating forecasts for a 0.4% increase.
Still, the single currency battled pressures of its own 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 an effort to stave off the deflationary risks in the euro zone.
Elsewhere, the euro was down against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.18% at 0.8046, and down against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.08% at 138.01.
On Friday, the U.S. is to round up the week with data on producer price inflation and preliminary data on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.