EUR/USD hit 1.3098 during European afternoon trade, the pair's highest since March 8; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3101, climbing 0.74%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2999, the session low and resistance at 1.3158, the high of February 28.
The euro gained ground after EU leaders endorsed “structural” budgetary assessments, granting countries such as France, Spain and Portugal extra time to bring down deficits.
Speaking at a meeting in Brussels, EU officials said balanced budgets remained the goal however, and there was no talk of large-scale spending programs or bond issues.
Meanwhile, EU and International Monetary Fund officials continued to work on a package for Cyprus, with hopes of presenting the outline of a bailout programme to euro zone finance experts later in the day.
In the U.S., the Empire State manufacturing index fell less-than-expected in March, ticking down to 9.2 from a reading of 10 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 8.4 this month.
A separate report showed that core consumer price inflation, which excluded food and energy, rose 0.2% in February after a 0.3% increase the previous month, in line with expectations.
Consumer price inflation rose 0.7% last month, more than the expected 0.5% increase, following a flat reading in January.
The euro was also higher against the pound with EUR/GBP adding 0.16%, to hit 0.8638.
Also Friday, official data showed that consumer price inflation in the euro zone remained unchanged at an annualized rated of 1.8% in February, in line with expectations.
Core consumer price inflation, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco, also remained unchanged in the single currency bloc last month at 1.3%, as expected.
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