Euro Lower on Greek Fears

        The euro was lower against the dollar and the yen in Asia trade Monday, as jittery investors await the outcome of the Eurogroup finance ministers meeting on Greece in Brussels later today.
        The common currency fell as low as $1.1133, its weakest since May 5, before slightly bouncing back to $1.1147 around 0450 GMT. That compares with $1.1207 late Friday in New York. Against the yen, the euro was at Y133.61 after briefly touching Y133.49 from Y134.30 in New York.
        The euro was drifting lower against the greenback with options-related stop-loss selling orders giving the pair an extra downward push with many investors skeptical about any agreement emerging from the Eurogroup finance ministers meeting.
        That is pushing the euro down on "selling led by speculation," said Yuzo Sakai, manager of FX business promotion at Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow.
        "Prolonged Greek concerns are again fanning fears, thus causing the euro selling," especially after investors were covering their short positions last week, said Mr. Sakai.
        Greece's leftist-led government is currently locked in negotiations with its international creditors over its next slice of financial aid as part of a EUR245 billion rescue package.
        German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned of the possibility of a surprise default by Greece, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reports in a pre-release of its Sunday edition. "Experiences elsewhere have shown that a country can suddenly slip into insolvency," Mr. Schaeuble said in an interview with the newspaper.
        "Investors need caution as a risk exits about another round of the euro selling if it becomes clear that the talks fall apart," especially after the euro short covering, said FPG Securities Chief Executive Koji Fukaya in a note.
        There is another risk that the dollar would go up, as the greenback takes a breather for its upside challenge, said Mr. Fukaya.
        Aside from Greek concerns, investors are paying close attention to a slew of U.S. economic indicators, including April retail sales scheduled for Wednesday.
        IG Securities market analyst Junichi Ishikawa said if the data prove similar to or better than the April jobs data out last Friday, many investors may conclude that the U.S. economic doldrums in the January-March quarter were just a temporary phenomenon caused by special factors such as bad weather.
        Among other currency pairs, the dollar was almost unchanged at Y119.87, compared with Y119.84 late Friday in New York.
        The WSJ Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.27% at 85.50
        Write to Hiroyuki Kachi at Hiroyuki.Kachi@wsj.com
        Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        May 11, 2015 02:20 ET (06:20 GMT)

#FX
#Forex
#SaleForex
#EuroLower
#GreekFears