By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — The dollar gained on major rivals Monday, including the euro, ahead of this week’s vote in the Greek parliament on austerity measures for the nation.
The euro EURUSD -0.33% was buying $1.4113, down from $1.4165 in late North American trading on Friday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.
“Events in Greece will continue to take center stage this week,” said Sara Yates and Yuki Sakasai, strategists at Barclays Capital.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou needs to secure parliamentary backing for austerity measures and sales of state-owned assets. Read more on Greece.
“Although we expect this to happen, politicians are unlikely to give their approval for this austerity package without substantial debate and threats of opposition. This will weigh on the euro’s performance,” they said in a note to clients Monday.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the U.S. unit against a basket of six currencies, rose to 75.921 from 75.695 Friday.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar USDJPY +0.58% rose to ¥80.76 from ¥80.55 late Friday.
The dollar/yen pair is sensitive to movements in Treasury yields, as Japanese investors are among the biggest holders of U.S. debt.
Treasury prices rose Friday, extending a rally that’s run for several weeks. Bond yields move inversely to prices. Read more on Treasury bonds.
The British pound GBPUSD -0.08% slipped to $1.5925 from $1.5974.
The Australian dollar AUDUSD -0.59% was buying $1.0411, down from $1.0495 late Friday.
Lisa Twaronite is MarketWatch's Tokyo bureau chief.
