Forexpros – The euro traded higher against the U.S. dollar Wednesday, on positive Greek debt swap news and slightly stronger-than-forecast U.S. employment data.
EUR/USD pulled away from 1.3164, the session high, to hit 1.3144 during U.S. afternoon trade, up just 0.24% on the session.
Fueling the single currency rally, investors holding 58% of Greek bonds eligible for the nation’s debt swap have agreed to participate in the sovereign restructuring.
The swap offer ending at 10:00 p.m. Athens time has a goal of reducing the EUR206 billion of privately held Greek debt by 53.5%.
Meanwhile, Greece has ramped up its rhetoric saying it will force uncooperative debt holders into the swap via collective action clauses if needed.
A report from ADP employer services indicated that U.S. companies added 216,000 workers in February compared to 170,000 in January, supporting the greenback.
In bearish news, German factory orders surprisingly declined in January missing estimates for a 0.6% increase.
The euro was higher against the pound and the yen, with EUR/GBP adding 0.08% to hit 0.8351 and EUR/JPY advancing 0.42% to hit 106.52.
Also Wednesday, official data showed that U.S. non-farm productivity rose more than initially expected in the final three months of 2011, while unit labor costs jumped more-than-expected.
&nb
Forexpros
