By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — The euro gained against the dollar during Asian trading hours Monday, as concerns about Greece eased, and as traders eyed interest-rate decisions from central banks across Europe and Asia this week.
The dollar index DXY -0.18% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six rival currencies, stood at 74.215, from 74.364 late Friday.
The dollar’s weakness against the euro came as Greece made more progress toward securing its latest round of funds from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
The euro EURUSD -0.09% traded at $1.4567, up from $1.4508, in late North American action on Friday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.
Over the weekend the euro-zone finance ministers signed off on the next tranche of assistance for the country, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Read the full Wall Street Journal report.
The European Central bank (ECB) is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday, while the Bank of England will likely keep rates on hold amid concerns over a slowdown in the economic recovery.
“The easing of euro peripheral stress should allow markets to re-price further policy moves from the central bank, perhaps following the message to be delivered by ECB President [Jean-Claude] Trichet following the rate rise,” currency strategists at BNP Paribas said.
In the coming week, the strategists expect “willingness by real-money investors to add to long euro exposure, and for leveraged accounts to start participating on euro upside if it become clear dips aren’t running much below $1.4500.”
Meanwhile, the dollar USDJPY -0.14% bought 80.76 Japanese yen, down from ¥80.84 in late North American trading on Friday.
The Australian dollar fell against the greenback after an unexpected drop in monthly retail sales, trading at $1.0747, down from $1.0771 ahead of the data. Read more about Australian retail sales.
On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia is slated to hold its monthly policy meeting, and economists expect it to keep the policy interest-rate target on hold at 4.75%.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
