Euro plumbs three-week low against dollar

Euro tilted lower in American trade to the lowest since January 18 against the dollar, following earlier data from the euro zone and the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 04:46 GMT, EUR/USD fell 0.78% to 1.2256 from the opening of 1.2264, with a three-week low at 1.2212, and a high at 1.2295. 

Earlier German data showed the trade surplus fell to 21.4 billion euros in December from 22.3 billion in November, missing expectations of 21.5 billion, while Deutsche Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann delivered a speech titled "Monetary Policy in the European Context" at the Monetary and Economic Policies on both sides of the Atlantic conference, in Frankfurt.

Weidmann said the European Central Bank's monetary easing program can't be justified when economic growth continues strongly according to economic forecasts, ruling out any impact from euro's strength on growth, while noting that higher wages in Germany underpin inflation forecasts. 

The ECB released its economic bulletin, where it said the risks in the euro zone are balanced, while strong momentum would lead to positive results when it comes to short-term growth. 

Otherwise, earlier US data showed unemployment claims fell to 221 thousand in the week ending February 3 from 230 thousand, beating expectations of 232 thousand, while continuing claims fell by 23 thousand in the week ending January 27 to 1.923 million from 1.956 million, while analysts expected 1.940 million.