Dollar Withstands Greece Austerity Measures As Concerns Remain

Dollar Withstands Greece Austerity Measures As Concerns Remain




The dollar was slightly weaker Monday morning, after Greece passed unpopular austerity measures in hopes of securing emergency bailout funds from a troika of lenders.
Reaction to the deal was subdued, leaving the buck near its lowest in two months versus the euro.
The Eurogroup is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, and expect a firm commitment from Athens to implement the approved austerity measures. However, the reforms are deeply controversial in Greece, resulting in riots and the possibility this government may be swept out of power.
There will be no first-tier economic news from the U.S. on Monday, but he Commerce Department's retail sales report for January, regional manufacturing surveys, and key housing data will be out this week.
The dollar was stuck near $1.3250 versus the euro, not far from last week's 2-month low of $1.3312.
German wholesale price inflation held steady at 3 percent in January, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Monday.
The dollar eased a bit to $1.58 versus the sterling, edging back toward last week's 3-month low of $1.5920.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the UK economy will avoid a technical recession and growth will gain momentum in the second half of 2012.
It its latest economic forecasts released Monday, the industry group lowered the growth outlook for the UK economy to 0.9 percent in 2012 from 1.2 percent projected in November. The outlook for 2013 was trimmed to 2 percent from the previous forecast of 2.2 percent.
The buck stood practically still versus yen, holding its recent gains near Y77.70.
Japan's gross domestic product declined an annualized 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the previous three months, the Cabinet Office said on Monday in a preliminary report.

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