Investing.com - The euro remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Monday as concerns over the conditions attached Greece’s bailout extension kept investors cautious, while the safe haven Swiss franc weakened as relief over the debt deal spurred risk appetite.
The euro zone approved the extension of Greece’s €240 billion bailout on Friday, removing concerns that the country would face a liquidity crunch when its current bailout agreement expired on February 28.
Markets have been hit by growing concerns over a possible Greek exit from the euro area if the country missed a debt payment.
Later Monday, Athens was to present a list of reforms to be approved by the country’s lenders in order to secure the four-month bailout extension. A collapse of the deal would revive concerns over a possible Greek exit from the euro zone.
EUR/USD was down 0.40% to 1.1337, off Friday’s highs of 1.1428, while EUR/JPY slid 0.48% to 134.81.
The traditional safe-haven Swiss franc was broadly lower, with USD/CHF last up 1.11% to 0.9485. The euro gained ground against the Swissy, with EUR/CHF advancing 0.79% to 1.0755, not far from Friday’s five-week highs of 1.0810.
In the euro zone, data on Monday showed that German business confidence rose less strongly than expected this month.
German research institute Ifo said its business climate index ticked up to a seven-month high of 106.8 from 106.7 in January but was still below forecasts of 107.7.
In other trade, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.28% to 94.66, off session highs of 95.01.
The greenback pared gains after a report showed that U.S. existing home sales fell more than expected in January to hit the lowest level in nine months.
The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales decreased 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted 4.82 million units last month from 5.07 million in December. Economists had expected existing home sales to fall 0.8% to 4.97 million units.