By: Barbara Zigah

Following the release of a report stating that Germany might agree to make some concessions on terms for a Greek bailout, the common currency Euro surged to a 3-week high against the U.S. Dollar. According to the report, Germany may not push for the early rescheduling of Greek debt prior to facilitation of a new Greek loan. As reported at 2:27 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro was at one point trading at a high of $1.4407, breaking through the 55-day moving average; resistance is pegged at $1.45.

E.U. officials said that they are urgently attempting to redraft another bailout loan for Greece in the hope that default can be avoided. The Eurozone chairman, Jean-Claude Juncker, said that he was optimistic following discussions with the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback’s strength versus major currencies, fell to the lowest point in 3-weeks when it hit 74.568 .DXY, a loss of 0.5%. The U.S. Dollar has been under pressure following last week’s release of disappointing data. This week, the focus will be on payroll and manufacturing data; analysts confirm that if the data again disappoints it will reconfirm the view that the economic recovery is likely to remain slow for some time.