The euro rose to a three-week peak against the dollar on Wednesday, boosted by hopes for an agreement on Greek austerity steps and progress toward an aid package for the debt-hobbled nation, but the currency has approached chart resistance that may cap its near-term gains.
The euro nudged higher in early Asian trade after Greek newspaper Kathimerini said in its online edition that details of the Greek government's mid-term fiscal plan were expected to be finalised by Wednesday night or Thursday morning, traders said.
The common currency rose as high as $1.4438 on trading platform EBS, its highest since early May, adding to gains on Tuesday, but failed to decisively breach immediate resistance at the top of the Ichimoku cloud on the daily chart at $1.4442.
The euro stood at $1.4431, up 0.2 percent from late US trading on Tuesday.
That $1.4454 level is also resistance on the weekly Ichimoku chart, with the tenkan sen, also known as the conversion line, coming in at that point. The conversion line can act as resistance or support depending on its location.
The euro held steady against the yen at 117.27 yen, having touched a high of 117.80 yen on Tuesday, its highest since early May.
It jumped 1.5 percent against the yen on Tuesday, buoyed by a Wall Street Journal report saying Germany was considering dropping its push for an early rescheduling of Greek bonds in order to facilitate a new package of aid loans for Greece.
Sporadic selling of the euro and dollar by Japanese exporters helped to lend support to the yen on Wednesday morning, one trader said.
The dollar slid 0.4 percent against the yen to 81.23 yen. One trader said there were some stop-loss dollar offers near 80.50 yen, but no noticeable stop-loss dollar offers above that.
While some support is still seen ahead of 81.00 yen, the more aggressive bids will not likely be seen until the pair breaks back below 81.00 yen and towards the 80.70-75 yen triple bottom seen over the course of the past three sessions, traders said.
The dollar remains under the gun against a basket of major currencies with the dollar index hovering near a three-week low and below resistance at the bottom of the Ichimoku cloud on the daily chart.
The Australian dollar bounced 0.8 percent to $1.0745 against the greenback as investors were relieved that GDP figures for last quarter were not as dire as some had predicted, while the New Zealand dollar eased.
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