EUR/USD lost earlier gains

The euro vanquished positions it gained earlier on Friday against the US dollar through the course of a light trade, after the release of weak French manufacturing production data and amid the continuing uncertainty over the future of Feds stimulus program.

EUR/USD slipped to its lowest point during todays session at 1.3348 at 13:19 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 1.3359, erasing 0.16% daily. Support was to be found at August 7th low, 1.3266, while resistance was to be encountered at June 19th high, 1.3416.

An official report showed on Friday that industrial production in France decreased sharply during June, as activity decelerated in all sectors. Industrial production index (IPI) dropped by 1.4% in June compared to May, confounding projections of a 0.3% increase. Annually, industrial output decreased by 0.2% in June, while experts had predicted a 1.5% climb. Manufacturing production, which gives about 80% of the total industrial output, dropped by 0.4% in June compared to May, again mismatching expectations of a 0.5% increase. The annual drop in manufacturing activity was 0.6% in June.

On the other hand, Italy recorded a wider surplus on its trade balance in June 2013 compared to June 2012. Surplus figure was 3.618 billion EUR during June compared to 2.8 billion EUR one year ago. Trade with non EU countries led to a 2.5 billion EUR surplus in June, while trade with other members of the European Union formed a surplus of 1.124 billion EUR during the same period. Italys export decreased by 2.7% in June on annual basis, while import dropped by 5.6%.

In the mean time, market players remained wary, after Cleveland Federal Reserve President Sandra Pianalto said on Wednesday that there has been a “meaningful improvement” in the labor market in the country and asset purchase tapering may be warranted, if this tendency continues to develop.

Elsewhere, the euro was slightly lower against the sterling, as EUR/GBP cross erased 0.09% to trade at 0.8605 at 14:41 GMT. Additionally, EUR/JPY pair was losing 0.68%, trading at 128.54 at 14:41 GMT.