Euro rebounds from two-week trough versus dollar

Euro rose in American trade off December 17 lows against the dollar, following earlier data from the euro zone and the US, after euro marked the heftiest daily loss since November 12 yesterday. 

As of 04:40 GMT, EUR/USD rose 0.11% to 1.1407, with an intraday high at 1.1419, and a low at 1.1346. 

Earlier French data showed consumer prices unchanged in December, while Spanish services PMI steadied 54.0, beating estimates of 53.8. 

Italian services PMI rose to 50.5 from 50.3, while the same index in France receded to 49 from 49.6. 

The services PMI for Germany receded to 51.8 from 52.5, while German unemployment change fell 14 thousand, sharpening a 16 thousand drop before. 

The services PMI for the whole euro zone receded as well to 51.2 from 51.4, while consumer prices for the zone rose 1.6%, slowing down from 2.0%. 

Core prices rose 1.1% as expected, as producer prices fell 0.3%, compared to a 0.8% increase in October. 

Otherwise, earlier US data showed the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in December from 3.7% in November, which was the lowest since 1969, while analysts expected no change. 

US average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in December, beating estimates of 0.3% and up from 0.2% in November. 

The US economy added 312 thousand new jobs in December, the fastest such pace since February 2018, and beating estimates of 179K, and compared to November's 176K, revised from 155K. 

 Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell participated in a panel discussion titled "Federal Reserve chairs: Joint Interview" at the American Economic Association's Annual Meeting, in Atlanta, while Congress passed bills to end the partial government shutdown starting two weeks ago, in order to fund several federal agencies until February 8.