Investing.com - The euro and sterling both remained slightly lower against the firmer U.S. dollar on Wednesday, despite solid economic reports out of the euro zone and the UK as investors awaited the upcoming Federal Reserve policy statement.
EUR/USD was down 0.19% at 1.0909 at 09.17 GMT despite data showing that the recovery in the euro area continued in the first quarter.
Gross domestic product across the currency bloc grew by 0.5% in the first three months of the year, Eurostat reported and the rate of growth for the fourth quarter of 2016 was revised up to 0.5% from 0.4%.
On a year-over-year basis, the euro area economy grew by 1.7%, in line with forecasts.
The data underlined hopes that the euro zone economy will continue to recover as fears over political risk and debt crises ease.
Investors were continuing to monitor political developments in the French presidential election ahead of a televised debate between centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and anti-euro far-right leader Marine Le Pen later Wednesday.
The pound remained weaker against the dollar, with GBP/USD down 0.16% at 1.2917, shrugging off data showing that output in the UK construction sector accelerated last month.
Market research firm Markit said its UK construction purchasing managers' index ticked up to 53.1 in April from March’s 52.2.
The report came a day after a similar survey of the manufacturing sector showed that British factory activity grew at the fastest rate in three years in April, adding to hopes that the economy may be regaining momentum after a sluggish start to the year.
Market watchers were looking ahead to Thursday’s PMI report on the dominant UK service sector for further signs of how the economy fared at the start of the second quarter.
The euro was a touch higher against sterling, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.08% to 0.8454.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned ahead of the outcome of the Fed’s two day policy meeting later in the trading day.
The Fed was widely expected to keep interest rates on hold, but investors will be watching for any indications that a June rate hike is on the cards.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.17% at 98.95.