The euro declined against its major counterparts in the European session on Friday on increased hopes of stimulus measures from the European Central Bank next month following comments by policymaker Olli Rehn.

Rehn, who is also the Governor of Finland central bank, said that the ECB was preparing a 'very strong package ' that could exceed market expectations at its next monetary policy meeting in September.

"It's important that we come up with a significant and impactful policy package in September," Rehn said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

"When you're working with financial markets, it's often better to overshoot than undershoot, and better to have a very strong package of policy measures than to tinker," he added.

Markets participants are pricing in a deposit rate cut of at least 10 basis points and restart of bond purchases when the ECB meets on September 11-12.

Data from Eurostat showed that the euro area trade surplus declined in June as exports logged a monthly decline amid an increase in imports.

The trade surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted EUR 17.9 billion in June from EUR 19.6 billion in May. In the same period last year, the surplus totaled EUR 12.5 billion.

The currency showed mixed trading against its major counterparts in the Asian session. While it held steady against the greenback and the yen, it rose against the franc. Versus the pound, it declined.

The euro slipped to 0.9090 against the pound, a level unseen this month. The euro is seen finding support around the 0.88 level.

The European currency fell to a fresh 2-week low of 1.1066 versus the greenback from Thursday's closing value of 1.1107. Next key support for the euro is seen around the 1.09 level.

Data from the Commerce Department showed an unexpected slump in housing starts in July.

The report said housing starts tumbled by 4.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.191 million from the revised June estimate of 1.241 million.

After a brief pause, the euro resumed decline to a session's low of 117.62 against the yen. If the euro falls further, 115.00 is seen as its next support level.

The single currency pared gains to 1.0844 against the franc, from a high of 1.0870 seen at 6:00 am ET. The euro is likely to face support around the 1.07 level.

The euro depreciated to a 9-day low 1.7199 against the kiwi, 2-week low of 1.6309 against the aussie and an 11-day low of 1.4713 against the loonie, from yesterday's closing values of 1.7222, 1.6385 and 1.4786, respectively. The next possible support levels for the euro are seen around 1.69 against the kiwi, 1.61 against the aussie and 1.44 against the loonie.

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