Euro falls versus majors on Spanish data, hits new 6-wk low vs GBP

The euro dropped across the board on Thursday as weak data from the region showed the crisis-hit EU member countries will continue to pressurize the single currency. Irish fiscal problems that hit its bank shares and a weak Spanish GDP data pushed the euro to a fresh 6-week low versus the British pound and close to a one-month low it hit against the US dollar in the previous session.

Spain's gross domestic product was steady in the third quarter from the previous one, official data showed. As the nation is undergoing tougher austerity measures, the gap between its 10-year benchmark bond yield and the comparable German security rose to 215 basis points by Thursday, a five-month high.

Meanwhile, France's move to support Germany which demanded investors to share the risks associated with restructuring of the sovereign debt worsened the case for the common currency. All stakeholders must participate in the gains and losses of any particular situation as a point of principle, Bloomberg quoted French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as saying.

The euro fell to a six-week low against the pound, as hawkish comments by Mervyn King on Wednesday prompted investors to speculate the Bank of England won't expand its asset-purchase program.

At 1245 GMT, the euro was at 0.8495 against the sterling, after hitting 0.8486, its lowest since September 28. It ended at 0.8548 on Wednesday. At its current level, the euro was down 2.2 percent from end-October against its British counterpart. Next support seen for the EUR/GBP pair is around 0.8438, which is its 23.6 percent Fibonacci retracement from late August lows.

The euro was at 1.3700 against the greenback, down from its previous close of 1.3781, and 1.2 percent down so far in the month. EUR/USD had touched a 1-month low of 1.3669 on Wednesday, which is now at striking distance for the pair. The immediate support seen for the single currency against the buck is the pair's 50-day simple moving average (SMA) of 1.36.

The European currency was at 112.74 against the Japanese yen from 113.40 at Wednesday's close. Bollinger band analysis with period 20 and standard deviation ±2 is pointing to its next support around 111.57.