Japanese yen gains after tankan business-sentiment survey
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar gained against most of its major rivals Monday, while the euro fell after Greece said it won’t meet its deficit targets this year and investors worried about when the nation may receive the next tranche of aid from international lenders.
The dollar index DXY +0.17% , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose to 79.088 Monday from 78.647 on Friday.
Investors sought the perceived safety of the greenback, as global stock markets fell on worries about the Greek debt crisis.
The euro fell to $1.3336 from $1.3409 on Friday after the Greek government said Sunday it will fall short of its deficit targets because of the deeper-than-projected recession in Greece. Read more on Greece.
The government also approved the 2012 draft budget and agreed to more austerity measures demanded by the troika of international lenders, which include the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
“The key question will be whether Greece has done enough to secure the next tranche of its bailout fund,” said Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank International.
“The troika has not yet completed its assessment of Greece, meaning that a final decision may not be forthcoming yet,” she said in a note.
Investors will also watch closely Monday’s meeting of euro-zone finance ministers in Luxembourg.
In other currency trading, the British pound dropped 0.4% to $1.5520.
The dollar slipped 0.4% to 76.88 Japanese yen after the Bank of Japan’s closely watched tankan survey showed business sentiment turned positive in the July-September period.
Polya Lesova is chief of MarketWatch’s London bureau.
