MW: Euro climbs as German business climate slide stops
The euro touched a one-week high Tuesday and advanced against major rivals after a key indicator from the euro-zone's largest economy, Germany, rose for the first time in eight months.
The euro rose as high as $1.3328 -- its 50-day moving average -- after the Ifo Institute's poll of German business climate rose to a stronger-than-forecast 83.0. See related story.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Eastern, the euro was trading up 0.3% to $1.3247.
"Considering the Ifo survey's historically effective track record in prompting sharp moves in the euro (up or down depending on the direction), we could see euro/dollar prolong its advances to as high as $1.3475," said Ashraf Laidi, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, in a note to clients.
The euro also rose against the yen, up 0.7% on the Japanese unit.
The euro did soften against the British pound, as sterling fetched 1.0674 euros, up 0.6%.
Coming up for the U.S. session, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for November is due at 9 a.m. Eastern, with January consumer confidence data coming at 10 a.m.
Strategists at HSBC said currency markets are factoring in sovereign risk -- but not for the dollar.
"It seems to us that the market is sensibly identifying U.K. risk and ascribing risk to a euro break-up scenario. However, it would seem the risk to the U.S. is being ignored as its reserve currency status remains intact," they said.