The euro edged higher against the US dollar, yen and Swiss franc on Monday as a new cash-for-reforms offer from Greece raised hopes a tangible deal is taking shape that will help Athens avoid a default on its debts. Euro zone finance ministers left a meeting with Greek officials in Brussels voicing optimism at Greece's offer, with talk of more work ahead to achieve a potential deal this week.
The ministers agreed to reconvene before the week is over, after Greece has thrashed out details with its international creditors the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. "Guarded optimism is driving the euro a little bit higher. There is clearly still a lot of uncertainty and officials in the euro zone have gone to considerable lengths to try to temper some of that optimism ahead of these meetings," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.
In mid-morning New York trade, the euro hewed to a tight trading range, gyrating on headlines from Brussels. The euro zone common currency traded at $1.13930, up 0.38 percent on the EBS trading platform, closing in on the Asian trading session high of $1.14040. The euro rose 0.79 percent to 140.42 yen, near its high for the day while dipping from its session high against the Swiss franc to trade up 0.40 percent at 1.04505 francs. The dollar rose 0.42 percent at 123.22 yen Greek stock prices closed roughly 9 percent higher while 10-year Greek government debt yields dropped 134 basis points to 11.30 percent.