Forex - Dollar pares gains on renewed Greece optimism

Forexpros - The U.S. dollar pared gains against most of its major counterparts on Thursday, after European Union officials indicated that a deal on a second bailout package for Greece may be finalized by Monday.

During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.11% to hit 1.3171.

The euro found support after EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said negotiations on a debt restructuring deal for Greece were at a very advanced stage and were expected to conclude in the coming days.

The final package is expected to be approved at an extraordinary meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday.

An agreement is essential for Greece to secure its next tranche of bailout funds in order to avoid a default when a EUR14.5 billion bond repayment comes due on March 20.

The euro fell to the session low against the greenback earlier after Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker said debt swap talks with the country’s private creditors were "ultra-difficult".

Risk appetite was also boosted after stronger-than-forecast data on jobless claims eased concerns over the recovery in the U.S. labor market.

The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits fell by 12,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 367,000, beating expectations for a decline to 373,000.

The previous week’s figure was revised up to 379,000 from 377,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 12 of the past 14 weeks.

Earlier Thursday, Spain’s Treasury auctioned EUR4.5 billion of medium term debt, at much lower yields than previously, while France sold EUR8 billion of government debt in an auction which met with solid investor demand and lower yields.

The greenback was also fractionally lower against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.04% to hit 1.5837.

In the U.K., data showed that the construction sector expanded in January, albeit at a weaker-than-forecast pace, as growth in new orders slowed and some existing contracts were completed.

The greenback remained close to a three-month low against the yen and slipped against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY dipping 0.08% to hit 76.14 and USD/CHF slipping 0.10% to hit 0.9143.

Earlier in the day, official data showed that Switzerland’s trade surplus narrowed to CHF2.07 billion in December; from CHF2.95 billion the previous month as exports declined, hit by the ongoing crisis in the euro zone.

Meanwhile, Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi reiterated that he remains prepared to take firm measures against the appreciation of the yen if necessary.

In addition, the greenback edged lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD inching down 0.03% to hit 0.9983, AUD/USD adding 0.19% to hit 1.0726 and NZD/USD adding 0.43% to hit 0.8359.

The Australian dollar was boosted earlier after the country posted a larger-than-expected AUD1.71 billion trade surplus in December, beating expectations for a surplus of AUD1.2 billion.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.13% to hit 79.14.

Also Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was giving testimony before the House of Representatives budget committee in Washington.