Forexpros – The U.S. dollar trimmed gains against its major counterparts on Monday, as the euro firmed up after International Monetary Fund officials said Greece was likely to receive its next tranche of aid later this month. During European afternoon trade, the greenback slipped against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.08% to hit 1.3665. The announcement came after Greece’s government said Sunday that it will impose a new property tax to cover a EUR2 billion gap in its budget targets this year. The IMF officials also dismissed speculation of an impending Greek default or exit from the euro-zone. The greenback was slightly higher against the pound, with GBP/USD dipping 0.04% to hit 1.5874. Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY shedding 0.69% to hit 77.04 and USD/CHF slipping 0.12% to hit 0.8821. Meanwhile, the greenback remained higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD climbing 0.22% to hit 0.9989, AUD/USD tumbling 1.31% to hit 1.0333 and NZD/USD slipping 0.22% to hit 0.8200. Earlier in the day, official data showed that Australia’s trade surplus expanded less-than-expected in July as exports exceeded imports by AUD1.83 billion, compared with a revised AUD1.82 billion surplus the previous month. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.04% to hit 77.69. Later Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to hold talks on the euro zone debt crisis with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

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