By MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar remained modestly higher versus most major currencies Wednesday, while the euro was under pressure amid concerns over Greece's ability to meet its financing needs. The dollar index (DXY 81.54, +0.15, +0.19%) , which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 81.438, from 81.379 in late North American trading Tuesday. The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.3353, -0.0040, -0.2987%) fell to $1.3385 from $1.3398 late Tuesday and the British pound (CUR_GBPUSD 1.5147, -0.0116, -0.7626%) slipped to $1.5206 from $1.5276. Greek government bonds were hammered Tuesday amid growing uncertainty over the details of a joint European-International Monetary Fund standby aid package agreed at a Brussels summit last month. Read earlier story about Greece's debt woes. The rout pushed the yield premium the Greek government must pay over 10-year German government bonds, or bunds, to more than four full percentage points, with the yield on 10-year Greek government bonds soaring to more than 7%. The carnage was even more severe at the short end of the market. "Market participants are sending signals to the E.U. and to Greek officials that they want to see some sort of intervention, be it from the ECB or a coordinated inter-government effort to mitigate rollover risks for the Greek government," wrote Stephen Gallo, head of market analysis at Schneider Foreign Exchange, in a research note. "In as much as the aforementioned officials wouldn't mind a weaker euro (assuming mild volatility), excessive upward pressure on Greek bond yields will mean an even deeper debt burden for Greece and ultimately a more costly bailout." Gallo said market participants will likely remain broadly short the euro on a short-term basis not that the single currency has broken through support at the $1.34. Rallies above that level are likely to be viewed as selling opportunities, he said. The euro posted little reaction to a downward revision to fourth-quarter euro-zone gross domestic product data, which showed the economy was flat in the final three months of 2009 compared to an earlier estimate of 0.1% growth. Earlier, final March purchasing managers' index data for March showed private-sector activity expanded at the fastest pace since August 2007. Read about U.K. and euro-zone economic data. The British pound extended a loss versus the U.S. dollar after the services PMI reading for March slipped more than expected. Against its Japanese counterpart, the dollar (CUR_USDYEN 93.9200, +0.1600, +0.1707%) rose to 93.92 yen, from 93.83 yen late Tuesday. The Bank of Japan's policy board on Wednesday voted unanimously to keep its key interest-rate target steady at 0.1%, as widely expected. Read about the BOJ rate decision. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plans to visit with a top Chinese economic official in Beijing on Thursday amid mounting speculation China will soon alter its currency policy. Geithner will meet with Wang Qishan, the Chinese vice premier responsible for economic affairs, after a two-day trip to India, a Treasury spokesman told reporters in Mumbai. Read about the Geithner trip.

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