Euro sneaks past 1.18 after data, Draghi's speech

Euro rose past 1.18 against the dollar in American trade, following a spate of data from the euro zone and the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 04:57 GMT, EUR/USD rose 0.34% to 1.1802 from the opening of 1.1762, with an intraday high at 1.1820, and a low at 1.1740.

Earlier French data showed the manufacturing PMI widening and the services PMI slowing down more than expected, while German manufacturing and services PMI rose unexpectedly, as the same manufacturing PMI rose for the whole region, while the services PMI slowed down according to preliminary readings for August. 

Similarly, earlier today European Central Bank President Mario Draghi delivered opening remarks at the Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences, in Germany, where he noted that the unusual policies being pursued by global central banks like monetary easing have proved their worth, especially in the euro zone, asserting that monetary easing is but an exceptional tool that had to be used after the global financial crisis. 

That tool was crucial to prevent massive deflation, and to pump liquidity in the markets to maintain lending rates in banks, while Draghi praised the effectiveness of such an expanding policy to make the financial system stronger and more stable.  

Additionally, German Chancellor Angela Merker noted earlier today that the trade balance surplus is not a result of unfair trade practices as some assumes, but a result of several factors that lead to such a surplus, and she expressed her wish to solve the North Korean problem without military interference, adding that Germany and all European countries should take part in solving the Korean crisis. 

Otherwise, earlier data from the US showed the manufacturing PMI slowed down unexpectedly, while services PMI widened more than expected according to preliminary readings for August, as new home sales tumbled unexpectedly in July.