Euro climbs amid Greek deal speculation; Dollar higher vs yen as U.S. manufacturing improves

On Monday the euro was slightly higher vs dollar on speculation that the Greek deal was oncoming although the information was not confirmed.

Meanwhile, the dollar saw a rise against the yen after data showed that U.S. manufacturing activity improved in May.

EUR/USD lost 0.74% falling to 1.0908.

The reaction of the single currency to renewed speculation of a Greek deal mirrors last week’s action, when Greece’s creditors did not confirm the rumors of a deal.

“When we had those rumors, the euro moved higher, then when they were denied, it didn’t go down,” said Steve Barrow, head of G-10 strategy at Standard Ban noting that the market is more willing to react to positive news than the negative one.”

Overnight, the joint currency had weakened in trade after Athens missed a self-imposed deal deadline Sunday evening.

However, the euro was buoyed as a gauge of German manufacturing activity in May met economists’ expectations.

The dollar surged against the yen, and edged higher against the euro, after official data showed U.S. manufacturing activity improved in May. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index rose to 52.8% in May, from 51.5% in April.

In general, the greenback was uneven against its rivals being weaker against the New Zealand  and Australian dollars, while trading higher against the Canadian dollar, British pound and Norwegian krone .

The dollar traded at 124.40 vs yen, compared with 124.18 late Friday in New York.

The Norwegian krone was one of the session’s worst performers against the dollar, weakening more than 1.5% as official manufacturing data disappointed and the Brent crude-oil benchmark tumbled.

On Friday the country's currency was trading at 7.96 to the dollar, compared with 7.77 to the dollar.