Investing.com - The euro remained slightly higher against the dollar on Wednesday as optimism that Greece was growing closer to a bailout deal faded after creditors refused to accept some of Athens’s latest proposals.
EUR/USD was last at 1.1183, holding below highs of 1.1235 hit earlier in the day.
Market sentiment was hit after Greece’s creditors rejected some of its latest proposed reforms and presented the government with counter proposals for a deal to unlock bailout funds.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras criticized the move ahead of talks with the heads of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Negotiations were continuing to try to finalize an agreement for European Union leaders to approve later in the week.
Time is running out for Greece to secure a deal ahead of the approaching deadline for a € 1.6 billion repayment to the IMF on June 30. If Greece misses the payment it risks going into default, which could trigger the country’s exit from the euro area.
In the U.S. data on Wednesday showed that a contraction in first quarter growth was not a severe as initially estimated.
The Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product contracted at an annual rate of 0.2% in the three months to March, lower than the initial estimate for a 0.7% contraction reported last month.
The upward revision to was due in large part to stronger consumer spending, which was revised up to 2.1% from the initial estimate of 1.8%.
The dollar was higher against the yen following the data, with USD/JPY rising 0.33% to 124.34.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at almost unchanged for the day at 95.64.