Euro at Four-Week High vs. Dollar on Greece & Non-Farm Payrolls

The euro jumped to the highest level in four weeks against the US dollar as Greece will receive more aid and as the US non-farm payrolls were simply terrible.

The European Union finance ministers agreed to provide Greece €110 billion as a part of the last year’s bailout program. The Eurozone services PMI was at 56.0 in May, compared to the preliminary estimates of 55.4. The European economy is still far from being strong as the composite PMI fell to 55.8 in May, down from 57.8 in April. The economic growth in Germany and France was strong, but it stalled in other countries of the region.

The US non-farm payrolls posted a neglible growth by 54,000 in May. That’s a very bad reading compared to the expected growth by 161,000 and the April increase by as much as 232,000. The unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percent to 9.1 percent.

EUR/USD closed at 1.4633 after opening at 1.4489 and rising to 1.4641, the highest level since May 5. EUR/JPY closed at 117.46 after it opened at 117.22 and slipped to 115.92.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Euro,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.