By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — The dollar fell against the euro Thursday, after a report Germany and France had reached a deal over a Greek aid plan ahead of a key euro-zone summit in Brussels to address the region’s sovereign-debt crisis.
Details of the deal between Germany and France were not immediately available, according to the Financial Times report. But a new bailout for Greece had been expected to total around €110 billion ($156.2 billion). Read more on E.U. summit.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Berlin on Wednesday, ahead of the summit. Read more on Germany, France reportedly agreeing on Greek deal.
The euro EURUSD +0.33% rose to $1.4254 from $1.4230 in late North American trading on Wednesday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.
The dollar index DXY -0.10% , which tracks the U.S. unit’s performance against a basket of six other currencies, fell to 74.691 from 74.788 late Wednesday.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar USDJPY -0.06% bought ¥78.73, compared with ¥78.76 late Wednesday.
The Japanese currency got support from Ministry of Finance data showing Japan swung to a ¥70.737 billion ($897 million) trade surplus in June, beating expectations for another month of trade deficit in the wake of the March 11 earthquake. Read more on Japan trade surplus.
The British pound GBPUSD +0.06% edged down to $1.6160, compared with $1.6164 late Wednesday, and the Australian dollar AUDUSD -0.14% changed hands at $1.0744, almost unchanged from $1.0745 late Wednesday.
Lisa Twaronite is MarketWatch's Tokyo bureau chief.
