The euro fell back under 99c against the dollar this evening following the publication of new data indicating some life in the US economy New jobless claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, according to figures published today, and the mid-west manufacturing index - the Chicago PMI - was up in November. In addition, consumer confidence improved in November from the previous month, said the University of Michigan, and personal spending improved in October from September Analysts said the euro found some technical support at 99.80/99.90 that prevented it from falling further
The improvement in the consumer indicators was particularly welcomed, as consumer activity drives two thirds of US GDP growth. The Dow Jones and the Nasdaq climbed almost 3pc following the publication of the reports Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Beige Book, published this evening, said that economic activity "grew slowly, on balance, in late October and early November". This compares with the previous Beige Book survey, when the Fed said most of the 12 Fed district banks "reported that economic activity remained sluggish" in early October. //www.fxcentre.com