CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The euro weakened against its major counterparts in early European deals on Friday, as investors await speech by the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi at the Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole for more clues on the future monetary policy.
Draghi is scheduled to speak at 3:00 pm ET today, few hours after a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on financial stability.
Market participants do expect Draghi to offer a fresh policy message and rather stick to the topic of the symposium 'Fostering a Dynamic Global Economy'
The ECB Chief hinted at the last rate meeting press conference that the discussion on the central bank's balance sheet would be hold off until autumn.
Survey results from Ifo institute showed that German business confidence weakened slightly from a record high in August.
The business sentiment index fell to 115.9 in August from July's record high of 116. The expected score was 115.5.
Data from Destatis showed that the German economy expanded as initially estimated in the second quarter.
Gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent sequentially in the second quarter, slightly slower than the 0.7 percent seen in the first quarter. The rate matched preliminary estimate.
The euro has been trading in a negative territory in the Asian session, with the exception of the Japanese yen.
The euro weakened to a 2-day low of 1.1773 against the greenback, compared to Thursday's closing value of 1.1799. If the euro-greenback pair extends slide, 1.15 is possibly seen as its next support level.
The euro edged down to 0.9195 against the pound, from a high of 0.9222 hit at 6:15 pm ET. On the downside, 0.90 is possibly seen as the next support level for the euro-pound pair.
The single currency dropped to 1.1364 against the Swiss franc, after having advanced to 1.1396 at 8:45 pm ET. Continuation of the euro's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 1.11 region.
Reversing from an early 8-day high of 129.50 against the Japanese yen, the euro slipped to 129.11. The next possible downside target for the euro is seen around the 127.00 area.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that overall consumer prices in Japan advanced 0.4 percent on year in July, in line with expectations and unchanged from the June reading. Core inflation, which excludes food prices, advanced an annual 0.5 percent - again unchanged and matching forecasts.
The euro hit a 3-day low of 1.4731 against the loonie, 2-day lows of 1.4884 against the aussie and 1.6317 against the kiwi, off its early highs of 1.4789, 1.4953 and 1.6390, respectively. The euro is likely to find support around 1.46 against the loonie, 1.47 against the aussie and 1.60 against the kiwi.
Looking ahead, U.S. durable goods orders for July and U.S. Baker Hughes rig count data are slated for release in the New York session.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX