Forexpros – The dollar firmed against most of the world’s major currencies on Tuesday, as investors fretted over Europe’s battles to prevent Greece from plunging into a disorderly default, which sparked a race to the safe and liquid greenback.
In early Asian trading on Tuesday, EUR/USD fell 0.03% to 1.3126.
Greece has been working on a deal with private-sector creditors to restructure its debts, and for weeks now a deal has remained just within sight but not in ink.
Disagreements over terms surrounding the haircut private lenders will take have delayed progress, yet Greece has to strike a deal with those private lenders if it wants to tap fresh bailout money down the road and avoid a default.
More recently, however, Greece has been negotiating terms of a second bailout package arranged with support from the E.U., the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.
The package was supposed to come to EUR130 billion, but now Athens reportedly may need up to EUR145 billion, and not all Greek political parties have been so eager to jump onboard with austerity measures that come with such aid.
Greece’s Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, however, did win the support from leaders of his political coalition to accept the tough terms that come with aid, although unions have called for work stoppages to protest austerity.
Furthermore, the IMF has said that the eurozone debt crisis could cut China’s growth in half if conditions deteriorate enough to threaten the global economy.
However, hope remains that all sides will find a way to keep Greece in the eurozone, which supported the euro somewhat.
Meanwhile, the dollar was up against the pound, with Cable falling 0.04% to hit 1.5814.
The greenback was up 0.18% against the yen, with USD/JPY trading at 76.69, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF rising 0.13% to 0.9198.
The greenback was mixed against its counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.07% at 0.9966, AUD/USD down 0.03% at 1.0711 and NZD/USD up 0.05% at 0.8342.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.09% at 79.25.
Later Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to testify on the economic outlook and federal budget situation before the Senate Budget Committee in Washington.
In Australia, the Westpac Consumer Sentiment Index will hit the wires.
In Europe, markets will keep an eye on French trade balance figures, German industrial output data while the British Retail Consortium will unveil its Shop Price Index.
Canada will release its latest numbers on building permits.
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