The euro snapped a four-day advance against the dollar as Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras prepared to meet with his German and French counterparts to ask for more time to meet economic targets.
There is still no news about a formal bailout request from either Spain or Italy, which is keeping EURUSD buoyed at 1.2560. However, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande will be looking to highlight their commonalties in the fight to end the crisis ahead of today's meeting with Greek Prime Minister Samaras.
The 17-nation currency pared the biggest weekly gain versus the greenback since February after German lawmaker Volker Kauder said Europe’s largest economy can’t make more money available for Greece. Samaras plans to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel today and travels to Paris tomorrow for talks with French President Francois Hollande. The dollar strengthened against all of 16 major counterparts as Asian stocks declined.
The euro dropped 0.2 percent to $1.2543 at 7:50 a.m. London time, trimming its weekly advance to 1.7 percent. The common currency climbed to $1.2590 yesterday, the strongest level since July 4. The euro was little changed at 98.63 yen. The dollar strengthened 0.2 percent to 78.61 yen.
On the other hand, the Dollar weakened versus most majors after worse than expected Jobless Claims raised bets for more stimulus. Initial Jobless Claims came out worse than expected with 372K versus 365K, as more people file for unemployment insurance. New Home Sales came out with 372K better than 363K expected. Today, Core Durable Goods are expected with 0.5% versus -1.4% prior.