MW: Dollar gains as Greece worries put euro back under pressure
Sterling slips; Aussie, Canadian currencies at key highs
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar advanced versus the euro, British pound and other currencies on Tuesday as new worries over Greece's debt situation triggered renewed selling pressure on the euro.
The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.3377, -0.0106, -0.7862%) fell to $1.3370, down from $1.3485 in North American trading late Monday.
The dollar index (DXY 81.59, +0.49, +0.61%) , which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 81.565, compared to 81.106 late Monday.
The dollar slipped 0.5% to buy 93.90 Japanese yen .
Most European and British markets were closed Monday and last Friday for Easter, so are getting a first chance to trade on positive U.S. data that was released during that period.
On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department said the economy created the most jobs in three years. On Monday, ISM said the services sector of the economy grew more than predicted. See more on dollar, U.S. data.
In the only scheduled U.S. market news, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from last month's policy meeting at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
"The market will focus on any debate about the criteria that would lead the Fed to modify its 'extended period' language and lead it to begin the process of reducing excess reserves," said Aroop Chatterjee, a strategist at Barclays Capital.
Any echoing of the commitment to maintain loose monetary policy conveyed in the statement released just after the meeting would be a small negative for the dollar, Barclays analysts wrote.
The firm's economists believe the Fed will consider removing the "extended period" language at the April 28 meeting.
Greece again
News reports said officials in Greece were seeking to amend a standby credit plan agreed to during a European Union summit last month to avoid the imposition of potentially onerous fiscal measures by the International Monetary Fund.
Greek officials denied that, saying it only sought clarity over how the IMF's plan would work, according to reports. See more on Greece, IMF.
Other reports focused on disputes between Greece and its euro-zone partners over the interest rate to be charged on any country-to-country loans to Greece.
"Resuming worries about Greece, regarding both its banking system and the upcoming dollar bond, dragged [the euro] back to the key $1.3425 base," wrote strategists at UniCredit Bank in Milan
