Euro rises against dollar for third straight session

Euro rose against the dollar in American trade away from early March lows for the third consecutive session, following earlier data from the euro zone and the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 02:49 GMT, EUR/USD rose 0.29% to 1.2357 from the opening of 1.2321, with an intraday low at 1.2303, and a March 28 high at 1.2378.

Earlier French data showed industrial output rose 1.2% in February, compared to a 1.8% drop in January, while Italian industrial production fell 0.5%, adding to the 1.8% drop in the previous reading and missing expectations of a 1% rise. 

European Central Bank member Novotny called in earlier remarks for patience before returning to normal monetary policy, pointing to strong economic growth that's however unbalanced. 

Novotny noted that inflation is a cornerstone in resuming normal policy, while warning that quick policy tightening could harm economic recovery and hurt assets. 

However, Novotny asserted that inflationary pressures will take hold eventually, and then the ECB will have to tighten policy to ready itself to any future shocks. 

Otherwise, earlier US data showed producer prices accelerated to 0.3% in March from 0.2% in February, beating expectations of 0.1%, while core prices accelerated as well to 0.3% from 0.2%.