The euro was off
its session lows but still sharply down on the day in Asian trading on
Monday after Greece failed to strike a deal with its lenders, taking it a
step closer to a debt default that could force its exit from the euro
zone.
The Swiss and
Japanese currencies, both of which often appreciate during times of
uncertainty on their perceived safe-haven status, were broadly higher,
while the dollar notched a three-week high against a basket of
currencies.
The euro EUR=EBS fell to a one-month low of $1.0955 on the EBS trading platform, from around $1.1165 late on Friday. It had last recovered to $1.1016, still down about 1.3 percent on the day.
"It looks like a bit of stability has returned after the earlier onslaught, so I'd say there was a bit of profit-taking, given that we are very much in a state of flux," said Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Hong Kong.
"Headline risk remains quite acute, with the focus squarely on Greece," she said.
Against the Swiss franc EURCHF=R, the euro fell as low as 1.0256 francs according to Reuters data, its weakest level since late April, and was last buying 1.0340 francs.
The euro also plumbed a one-month low around 133.80 yen EURJPY=EBS on EBS, and was last at 134.85 yen, down about 2.5 percent.
The dollar JPY=EBS fell to a one-month low of 122.10 yen before pulling away from a test of the 122 level. It last stood at 122.45 yen, off about 1.2 percent.
The
single currency's plunge helped the dollar index, which tracks the
greenback against a basket of six major rival currencies, gain about 0.7
percent on the day to 96.111 .DXY, after earlier rising as high as
96.369, its highest since June 8. Adding to
the risk-off sentiment, Asian shares tumbled and Chinese markets were
highly volatile despite the Chinese central bank's easing measures on
Saturday.
"Ahead of the weekend, there seemed to be a market consensus that something would get done for Greece, so it was a rare occasion when the market takes position for the optimistic view," said Bart Wakabayashi, head of foreign exchange for State Street Global Markets in Tokyo.
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Monday he did not think the yen would suddenly spike or Japanese stock declines would spread due to turmoil triggered by Greece's deepening crisis.
The Bank of Japan is not considering offering emergency liquidity, though it stands ready to act if the Greek crisis were to trigger global market turmoil, sources told Reuters.
But the likelihood of a Greek default on a 1.6 billion-euro payment to the International Monetary Fund by a Tuesday deadline appeared greater after Athens effectively rejected proposals made by its European lenders in exchange for more credit at last-minute bailout talks at the weekend.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras shocked European officials by instead calling for a referendum to be held on July 5 to ask Greek voters to decide whether to accept the bailout terms which his government opposes. Athens also closed banks and imposed capital controls to prevent a collapse of its banks as anxious investors pulled out their cash.
The euro EUR=EBS fell to a one-month low of $1.0955 on the EBS trading platform, from around $1.1165 late on Friday. It had last recovered to $1.1016, still down about 1.3 percent on the day.
"It looks like a bit of stability has returned after the earlier onslaught, so I'd say there was a bit of profit-taking, given that we are very much in a state of flux," said Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Hong Kong.
"Headline risk remains quite acute, with the focus squarely on Greece," she said.
Against the Swiss franc EURCHF=R, the euro fell as low as 1.0256 francs according to Reuters data, its weakest level since late April, and was last buying 1.0340 francs.
The euro also plumbed a one-month low around 133.80 yen EURJPY=EBS on EBS, and was last at 134.85 yen, down about 2.5 percent.
The dollar JPY=EBS fell to a one-month low of 122.10 yen before pulling away from a test of the 122 level. It last stood at 122.45 yen, off about 1.2 percent.
"Ahead of the weekend, there seemed to be a market consensus that something would get done for Greece, so it was a rare occasion when the market takes position for the optimistic view," said Bart Wakabayashi, head of foreign exchange for State Street Global Markets in Tokyo.
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Monday he did not think the yen would suddenly spike or Japanese stock declines would spread due to turmoil triggered by Greece's deepening crisis.
The Bank of Japan is not considering offering emergency liquidity, though it stands ready to act if the Greek crisis were to trigger global market turmoil, sources told Reuters.
But the likelihood of a Greek default on a 1.6 billion-euro payment to the International Monetary Fund by a Tuesday deadline appeared greater after Athens effectively rejected proposals made by its European lenders in exchange for more credit at last-minute bailout talks at the weekend.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras shocked European officials by instead calling for a referendum to be held on July 5 to ask Greek voters to decide whether to accept the bailout terms which his government opposes. Athens also closed banks and imposed capital controls to prevent a collapse of its banks as anxious investors pulled out their cash.
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