Business activity in the euro zone expanded at its fastest pace in two-and-a-half years in November as a robust service sector more than offset manufacturing weakness

The euro hit an almost seven-week high against the dollar on Wednesday, boosted by data showing an expansion in euro zone business activity.

Business activity in the euro zone expanded at its fastest pace in two-and-a-half years in November as a robust service sector more than offset manufacturing weakness.

There’s been this upward creep in good data for Europe, which I think the market is beginning to pay attention to, said Steve Englander, head of global G10 FX research and North America macro strategy at Standard Chartered Bank’s NY Branch.

Several other European currencies were also stronger on Wednesday, potentially indicating optimism over an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, Englander said. These are all currencies that would benefit from peace in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that President Vladimir Putin accepted some U.S. proposals aimed at ending the war in Ukraine and rejected others but that Russia was ready to meet U.S. negotiators as many times as it took to reach an agreement.

The euro was last up 0.43% at $1.1673 and reached $1.1677, the highest since October 17. The Swedish crown strengthened 0.76% versus the dollar to 9.371. Against the Norwegian krone, the dollar softened 0.6% to 10.061.

Technical factors may also be boosting the euro and hurting the dollar, said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York.

Since September 17th the dollar has drifted higher, other currencies have drifted lower, but that looks mostly corrective in nature and I wonder if we’ve begun the next leg up to rechallenge the highs in the euro set earlier this year, he said.

The euro hit a four-year high of $1.1918 on Sept. 17.