Forex - Euro broadly lower as Greece in focus

Forexpros - The euro was broadly lower on Monday, as investors eyed a deadline for Greece to decide whether it can accept the proposed terms of a new bailout package it needs to avert a default.

During European late morning trade, the euro was lower against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD dropping 0.82% to hit 1.3050.

Greek political leaders were holding talks in Athens to discuss whether they can agree to conditions required by the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund to meet the requirements for a EUR130 billion aid package.
 
Over the weekend Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said coalition members had agreed on some conditions, including wage cuts but others still needed to be addressed.

Concerns over Greece overshadowed Friday’s robust U.S. employment data, which showed that the economy added 243,000 new jobs last month, the fastest increase in nine months, bringing down the unemployment rate to a three-year low of 8.3%.

The euro was also weaker against the pound, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.37% to hit 0.8291.

In the U.K., a report by mortgage lender Halifax showed that house prices rose by 0.6% in January, after dropping by a revised 1% the previous month.

The report said that continuing low levels of interest rates have helped support housing demand.

The single currency was weaker against the yen and the Swiss franc, with EUR/JPY falling 0.79% to hit 99.98 and EUR/CHF slipping 0.12% to hit 1.2066.

Elsewhere, the euro continued to struggle close to recent record lows against the Australian and New Zealand dollars, with EUR/AUD sliding 0.19% to hit 1.2193 and EUR/NZD losing 0.11% to hit 1.5711.

A report earlier showed that Australian retail sales fell for the first time in six months in December, ticking down 0.1% and confounding expectations for a 0.2% increase.

In addition, the euro was lower against the Canadian dollar, with EUR/CAD falling 0.44% to hit 1.3013.

Also Monday, official data showed that German factory orders rebounded strongly in December, rising 1.7% after falling by a revised 4.9% the previous month and outstripping expectations for a 0.7% gain.