Tuesday: Euro weakens on Greek impasse, Aussie up on RBA, Greenback lower on downbeat data
The euro kept its decline on Thursday as negotiations between Greece and euro zone finance ministers reached an impasse, setting the stage for the current bailout agreement to at the end of the month.
EUR/USD traded at 1.1334, down 0.18%. The pair was likely to find support at 1.1311, Thursday’s low, and resistance at 1.1404, Friday’s high.
The euro was also down at the end of the US session. EUR/USD was trading at 1.1351, down 0.36%, according to Investing.com.
Talks between Greece and euro zone finance ministers over the country's debt broke down on Monday when Athens rejected a proposal to request a six-month extension of its international bailout as "unacceptable".
Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chaired the meeting, said Athens had until Friday to request an extension, otherwise the bailout would expire at the end of the month.
Greece’s current €240 billion bailout is due to expire on February 28 and the new Greek government does not want it extended, spurring worries over a conflict with its creditors which could trigger the country’s exit from the euro zone.
Greece's Finance Minister Yiannis Varoufakis said yesterday that he was ready to sign a document drafted by the European Commission, which outlined a deal between Greece and its partners. Varoufakis also said, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem presented him with another document, which referred to past policies and was vague in key issues such as "flexibility", which he could not accept.
Aussie
AUD/USD traded at 0.7784, up 0.14%, after the release of the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's most recent board meeting showed concern over the pace of growth and cut the cash rate 25 basis points to a record low 2.25%.
"In deciding the timing of such a change members assessed arguments for acting at this meeting or at the following meeting." They preferred a February move because it "offered the opportunity of early additional communication in the forthcoming Statement of Monetary Policy," the RBA said. That Feb. 9 statement contained revised forecasts and detailed commentary and came three days after the cut.
Greenback
The dollar remained moderately lower overnight against the other major currencies, as recent downbeat U.S. data continued its impact and as trading volumes were expected to remain light with U.S. markets closed for the Presidents Day Holiday.
Sentiment on the dollar remained fragile after data
on Friday showed that the preliminary reading of the University of
Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 93.6, down from January’s
final reading of 98.1, though analysts predicted unchanged figure.
