The euro was lower against its most major counterparts in early European deals on Friday, after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for a snap national election in April following a budget defeat in Parliament on Wednesday.

The snap election is set to take place on April 28.

Sanchez's announcement came two days after his minor Socialist government had lost a vote on its budget, when two separatist Catalan parties withdrew their support because of the PM's refusal to discuss the region's right to self-determination.

Sanchez's Socialists, which holds just 84 seats in the 350-seat lower house, had been reliant on the support of Basque and Catalan nationalist parties since assuming power in June 2018.

Opinion polls project that no single party is likely to get a clear majority.

Figures from the statistical office Eurostat showed that Eurozone's merchandise trade surplus came in below economists' expectations for December.

The seasonally adjusted trade surplus fell to EUR 15.6 billion from EUR 15.8 billion in November. Economists had expected a surplus of EU R16.3 billion.

Exports decreased 0.1 percent month-on-month, while imports were unchanged.

The euro dropped to 1.1268 against the greenback, from a high of 1.1297 seen at 7:00 pm ET. The next possible support for the euro is seen around the 1.10 region.

The euro depreciated to 0.8792 against the pound from Thursday's closing value of 0.8821. The euro is poised to find support around the 0.86 level.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that UK retail sales rebounded strongly at the start of the year, rising at a faster-than-expected pace, led by robust clothing and footwear sales supported by price cuts.

Retail sales including auto fuel rose 1 percent from December, when they decreased 0.7 percent. Economists had expected a 0.2 percent gain.

The single currency weakened to a 4-day low of 124.25 against the yen and held steady thereafter. At yesterday's close, the pair was worth 124.76.

After falling to a 3-day low of 1.1338 against the Swiss franc at 2:30 am ET, the euro recovered to 1.1357 in subsequent deals. Next key resistance for the euro is likely seen around the 1.15 level.

Looking ahead, Canada existing home sales for January, U.S. export and import prices and industrial production for the same month, New York Fed's empire manufacturing survey and University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index for February are slated for release in the New York session.

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