Euro hits early October highs versus dollar

Euro rose off August 20 lows against the dollar for the fourth session out of six, following earlier data from the euro zone and the US today. 

As of 04:09 GMT, EUR/USD rose 0.07% to 1.1587, with an intraday low at 1.1535, and the highest since early October at 1.1606. 

Earlier German data showed import prices unchanged in August, compared to a 0.5% drop in July, while rising 4.8% y/y, slowing down from 5.0%. 

The trade surplus for the whole zone widened to 16.6 billion euros from 12.6 billion in July according to the seasonally adjusted reading. 

The ZEW index tracking economic sentiment in Germany fell to minus 24.7 from minus 10.6 in September, while the same index for the euro zone fell to minus 19.4 from minus 7.2. 

Italian trade surplus shrank to 2.56 billion euros from 5.66 billion, missing estimates of 4.34 billion. 

European Council President Donald Tusk said bluntly that there's no cause for optimism regarding Brexit negotiations before the European Summit. 

Tusk said he'll ask UK Prime Minister Theresa May if she has new suggestions to clear the roadblocks hindering a final Brexit deal, while also discussing the scenario of no deal and how to deal with it. 

Otherwise, earlier US data showed industrial output rose 0.3% in September, slowing down from 0.4%, while the Capacity Utilization Rate stood at 78.1%, same as before and below estimates of 78.2%.