Euro Advances Against Majors

(RTTNews) - The euro strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, as investors evaluated the Middle East's efforts to reduce tensions and Chief Jerome Powell's cautionary comments during his second congressional hearing.

Meanwhile, traders remain concerned about the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East that appears to hold, and shift focus to the looming U.S. tariff pause deadline on July 9. They also turn their focus to the U.S. Fed's plans on interest rates.

In the Asian trading today, the euro rose to nearly a 4-year high of 1.1717 against the U.S. dollar, more than a 7-year high of 1.6052 against the Canadian dollar and a 2-day high of 0.9402 against the Swiss franc, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.1684, 1.6019 and 0.9392, respectively. If the euro extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.18 against the greenback, 1.61 against the loonie and 0.94 against the franc.

Against the yen, the euro edged up to 169.40 from Wednesday's closing value of 169.31. The euro may test resistance around the 170.00 region.

Moving away from a recent low of 0.8528 against the pound, the euro advanced to 0.8537. On the upside, 0.86 is seen as the next resistance level for the 1.80 region.

Against the Australia and the New Zealand dollars, the euro jumped to 2-day highs of 1.7935 and 1.9354 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.7916 and 1.9301, respectively. The next possible upside target for the euro is seen around 1.80 against the aussie and 1.95 against the kiwi.

Looking ahead, European Central Bank's General Council meeting is due to be released at 3:00 am ET.

In the New York session, Canada average weekly earnings for April, Canada wholesale sales data for May, U.S. durable goods orders for May, U.S. GDP data for the first quarter, U.S. Chicago Fed National Activity index for May, U.S. goods trade balance for May, wholesale inventories for May, U.S. weekly jobless claims data and U.S. PCE prices for the first quarter are slated for release.