LONDON—Stronger-than-expected euro-zone economic data helped the euro advance Thursday, though investors remained focused on any Greece developments out of the European Union finance ministers meeting.
Uncertainty over the EU talks is helping to limit the euro's gains while other high-risk currencies, such as the Australian dollar, have staged a larger rebound.
The dollar was trading flat at ¥89.99 while the euro rose to $1.3656 from $1.3613 and to ¥122.91 from ¥122.46. The dollar was also down at 1.0739 Swiss francs from 1.0770 francs. The pound was up at $1.5692 from $1.5662 late on Monday in New York, according to EBS.
Economic data from the euro zone did provide some good news for the euro with the latest ZEW business sentiment index from Germany coming in at 45.1. This was down from 47.2 in January but a lot higher than the 41.5 that had been forecast.
Elsewhere, the U.K. reported that inflation jumped to 3.5% last month from 2.9% in December. This wasn't as high as the 3.7% that the consensus had expected and has probably helped to lower expectations that the Bank of England will have to raise rates later on.
The euro's advance comes in quiet trading after holidays in the U.S., Canada and much of Asia Monday. As commodity prices rallied, with both gold and crude oil prices rising over 1%, Asia stocks headed higher Tuesday. The Nikkei ended the day up 0.2%.
The better mood was encouraged by developments in Australia where the latest minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia suggested further rate increases down the road and a NAB business survey showed a healthy jump in confidence.
The main market focus remains, however, on Greece and the ongoing discussions in Brussels. European officials have increased pressure on Greece to implement more spending cuts rather than rely on a rescue package from the European Union. However, Greek officials continue to resist introducing any more austerity until the middle of March, when the EU is due to scrutinize the country's deficit reduction plans. In the meantime, financial markets are anxious to see if the Brussels meeting, due to end later Tuesday, produces any more details of a Greek bailout.
