Summary Euro hit a one-month high on Thursday amid growing uncertainty about Greece's debt crisis.
NEW YORK (AFP) - The euro hit a one-month high on Thursday amid growing uncertainty about Greece s debt crisis after European talks ended without a bailout deal.
The euro rose to an intraday high of $1.1436 as Greek and other eurozone finance ministers held debt talks in Luxembourg, trying to break the five-month-old standoff between the anti-austerity government in Athens and its European Union and International Monetary Fund creditors.
The EU-IMF creditors have refused to pay the remaining 7.2 billion euros of the bailout if the Greek government fails to offer acceptable reforms. The bailout deal expires June 30, the same deadline for Greece s 1.5 billion euro debt payment to the IMF.
Eric Viloria, currency strategist for Wells Fargo Securities, said the euro had climbed to the day s peak on reports suggesting that Greece had obtained a delay in debt payments, but quickly pared the gain when it became evident that was not the case.
The fact that the euro did not lose all of its gains after the Eurogroup meeting ended in failure showed that the market had not expected an agreement, he said. Without bailout relief, Greece faces a growing risk of default and an exit from the eurozone.
"The rise in the single currency 12 days before the June 30th deadline has many investors wondering whether a Grexit is a blessing or a curse for the euro," said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.
"The strength of the euro tells us one of two things -- investors have faith that a deal will be reached or they think that the eurozone is better off without Greece," Lien said.
The dollar, meanwhile, continued to extend its losses after the Federal Reserve s decision Wednesday to leave unchanged its zero-level federal funds interest rate, as expected, and predicted a more gentle rise in rates than previously signaled.
