Euro Falls As Ukraine Talks Fail To Make Progress

The euro weakened against its most major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday, as optimism over a ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia faded after Kremlin admitted that a substantial gap remained and "fundamental issues are inviolable."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday blamed Ukrainian delegation for the delay in the negotiations.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss the ongoing economic competition between the two countries and Russia's war against Ukraine later today.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautioned that Beijing is "considering directly assisting Russia with military equipment to use in Ukraine."

S&P Global Ratings downgraded Russia's debt rating to CC from CCC- saying that the country's debt is highly vulnerable to nonpayment amid international sanctions.

The euro weakened to 1.1076 against the greenback and 0.8419 against the pound, off its prior highs of 1.1119 and 0.8438, respectively. The euro is poised to challenge support around 1.08 against the greenback and 0.82 against the pound.

The euro touched 4-day lows of 1.6046 against the kiwi and 1.4969 against the aussie, pulling back from its previous highs of 1.6127 and 1.5049, respectively. The euro is seen finding support around 1.58 against the kiwi and 1.47 against the aussie.

The euro dropped to a 2-day low of 1.3964 against the loonie, from a high of 1.4031 hit at 8:15 pm ET. If the euro falls further, 1.36 is likely seen as its next support level.

Reversing from a previous high of 1.0401 against the franc, the euro edged down to 1.0371. The euro may test support around the 1.02 level.

In contrast, the euro held steady against the yen, after climbing to 131.90 at 8:15 pm ET. At yesterday's close, the pair was worth 131.52.

Looking ahead, Eurozone trade data for January is due in the European session.

U.S. existing home sales for February, Canada retail sales for January and new housing price index for February will be published in the New York session.