Dollar holds steady ahead of U.S. home sales data

22 June 2015, 15:19
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The dollar held steady against a basket of other major currencies on Monday, as ongoing uncertainty over the outcome of Greek debt talks continued to dominate sentiment and as investors eyed upcoming data on U.S. existing home sales.

The greenback came under pressure after the Federal Reserve's rate statement last week tempered expectations for a rate hike later this year.

The Fed lowered both its U.S. growth forecast and its interest-rate projections, prompting investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank wanted to see "more decisive evidence" of sustained growth before raising rates, but acknowledged that the economy has "expanded moderately" after a weak first quarter.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 93.34.

EUR/USD held steady at 1.1348 after Greece submitted a new package of economic reforms on Sunday night, indicating that it is prepared to make concessions to break a deadlock in order to unlock €7.2 billion in funds.

Greece’s existing bailout is set to expire at the end of this month, when it must also repay €1.6 billion to the International Monetary Fund. A default by Greece could trigger the country’s exit from the euro zone.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was to hold talks with representatives from the IMF, the European Central Bank and the eurogroup of finance ministers later in the day, ahead of an emergency summit by European Union leaders.

If no deal is reached Greece could need to impose capital controls on Tuesday to stem a mounting crisis in the banking sector after bank withdrawals surpassed a billion euros a day late last week.

The pound was lower, with GBP/USD down 0.40% to 1.5824.

Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY up 0.39% to 123.18 and with USD/CHF adding 0.10% to 0.9183.

The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7766, while NZD/USD fell 0.32% to trade at 0.6887.

USD/CAD slid 0.35% to 
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