Australian Dollar Soft as Greece Crisis Lingers

 
   By James Glynn 
 

        SYDNEY--The Australian dollar was weaker Monday in Asia as uncertainty over the future of Greece's continued participation in the eurozone continued to linger.
        At 0645 GMT, the Australian dollar was trading at US$0.7443, compared with US$0.7490 late Friday. It traded as low as US$0.7410.
        A meeting of European leaders in Brussels Sunday, and into Monday morning, edged closer to a new bailout deal for Greece that would require a near-total surrender of the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to creditors' demands.
        But a statement prepared by the currency union's finance ministers before the summit, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, said negotiations on a new rescue couldn't start until the Parliament in Athens had passed pension overhauls and sales-tax increases, along with further financial-policy measures. The parliamentary votes would have to happen by Wednesday.
        Still, the Australian dollar managed to climb off its lows during the session, helped by gains in Chinese shares and a firmer iron ore price.
        The Shanghai Composite Index is up 3% at 4003.98 after ending its first positive week in four on Friday. It remains down nearly a quarter from highs reached in June.
        "Greek political developments should continue to dominate the short-term trend in the Australian dollar," said Elias Haddad, currency strategist at CBA.
        "If there is no bail-out agreement between Greece and its Eurozone creditors by Wednesday, the Aussie could make new cyclical lows this week on heightened risk aversion," he added.
        -Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 13, 2015 03:08 ET (07:08 GMT)

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