By: Barbara Zigah

The Euro continues to extend last week’s gains; in Sydney, the common currency earlier struck a 1-month peak against the U.S. Dollar on easing concerns over Greek debt. As reported at 2:19 p.m. (EST) in Sydney, the Euro was trading at $1.4556 against the greenback, after breaking through the option’s barrier at around $1.4550 on Friday; earlier on the EBS trading platform it had struck $1.4580, a high not seen since early June. Following last week’s successful Greek Parliamentary votes, the Euro ended the week 2.4% higher, the largest weekly percentile rise since the beginning of the year.

This past weekend, the Eurozone’s finance ministers agreed to disburse the fifth and final tranche payment of some €12 billion for Greece’s previously approved loan. The details of their next bailout loan are expected to be finalized sometime in September.

The Euro is expected to continue to find barriers to further gains given that many investors are uncertain that the Greek nation can successfully implement the various austerity measures that have been self-imposed, a pre-condition of the second bailout. The majority of Greek citizens are angry that they are taking on more than their fair share of the burden and more protests are likely. The Euro is finding support, however, from speculation that the European Central Bank will announce a rate hike later this week.