The euro rose against the majority of its 16 most-traded peers on speculation European finance ministers are close to finalizing a debt-reduction package for Greece. Europe’s shared currency rose to the highest level in almost two weeks versus the greenback after falling earlier amid the ministers’ failure to complete the Greek deal yesterday in Brussels. “We have a series of options on the table on how to close the financing gap,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters in Brussels. “We discussed the issue very intensively, but since the questions are so complicated we didn’t come to a final agreement.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told lawmakers this morning that there’s a chance for a deal on Greek aid at next week’s meeting. Schaeuble said the issue of the nation’s funding gap was solvable and possible solutions include reducing interest payments on its initial bailout loans, suspending payouts through 2020 on its second rescue package, or having the European Central Bank buy 9 billion euros ($11.5 billion) of the country’s Treasury bills, according to four people who attended the briefing. The euro was little changed at $1.2818 at 11:46 a.m. New York time after gaining to $1.2833, the most since Nov. 7. Japan’s currency dropped 0.8 percent to 105.58 per euro, after weakening to 105.85, the lowest level since May 3.
EasyForexNews Research Team