By: Barbara Zigah

The Euro moved higher against the U.S. Dollar as risk appetite improved following a run of better than expected global PMI data which helped to alleviate investors’ fears of global growth worries. Global purchasing managers’ indices from Germany, China, U.K., the U.S. and the Eurozone which broke above the 50 threshold, offered the Euro a bounce yesterday, and gave investors some hope that the tide might be turning.

That helped to push the Australian Dollar higher as well against the greenback, touching on a 5-month peak in Asian trade. As reported at 12:07 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro edged up 0.2% tp $1.3183 and well off yesterday’s low of $1.3026. The Australian Dollar was also up 0.2% from late N.Y. trade and most recently was trading at $1.0758.

Greece is in the fore of the news, this time providing some support to the volatile Euro as it w as reported that the Greek government said that their negotiations with private bondholders was nearly successfully completed. Upcoming sovereign bond sales for Spain and France will help to determine the Euro’s direction; the ECB has been participating in the sales which have helped to bolster demand. Investors are concerned that at some point the ECB will follow through on their threat not to foray into the bond markets.