On Tuesday the euro was broadly lower as euro group finance ministers failed to reach an agreement over Greece's bailout package, while the dollar was buoyed after positive housing data.
EUR/USD declined 0.60% to 1.1271 from Monday’s highs of 1.1409.
Although euro zone finance ministers failed to conclude a deal over Greece’s bailout at an emergency meeting on Monday, they signaled that a final deal could be made later this week.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chief of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde both warned that there was still a lot of work to be done.
However, as Bloomberg reported, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs meetings of his euro-area peers, said a new set of proposals submitted by the Greek authorities formed the basis for a potential deal to end an impasse over aid.
“It’s an opportunity to get a deal this week and that’s what we’ll work for,” he said. Dijsselbloem said the package was “broad and comprehensive,” without elaborating.
In Asia, data showed that the China HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 49.6 in June from 49.2 the previous month, still in contraction territory for the third consecutive month.
China is the second biggest export partner for New Zealand and the biggest trading partner for Australia, and thus, both local currencies were lower.
NZD/USD was last at 0.6856.
AUD/USD was last at 0.7740.
Also, earlier in Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that its house price index climbed 1.6% in the first quarter, below expectations for an increase of 2.3%. The change in house prices in the last three months of 2014 was revised to a 2.0% gain from a previously estimated 1.9% rise.
