The euro broke through the $1.13 level for the first time in three weeks as the single currency rose against the dollar and sterling in early European trading. The single currency was recently trading at $1.1316, up 0.6 percent against the dollar. The last time it was at that level was on March 26. Against sterling, it was up 0.4 percent at €1.1550. The currency has traded in a $1.1250 to $1.1450 range three-quarters of the time this year, with implied volume falling to a five-year low.
Industrial production fell less than expected in February, the Eurozone’s statistical office said on Friday, providing a flicker of confidence among much more persistent manifestations of a slackening in the 19-nation bloc.
Meanwhile, the chief of the Eurozone bailout fund, speaking in Washington last week on the sidelines of an IMF meeting, said the region is better strengthened for a possible crisis now than it was a decade ago, but nevertheless has some way to go.