Investing.com –
Investing.com – The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as Greece was to hold crunch talks with European Union officials later in the day.
EUR/USD was almost unchanged at 1.1313.
Greece’s current bailout is due to expire on February 28 and the new Greek government does not want it extended, fuelling concerns that a conflict with international creditors could trigger the country’s exit from the euro zone.
Athens was expected to ask for a bridge loan to cover its funding needs until September, and to also propose new economic reforms to replace 30% of its massive bailout deal.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government won a confidence vote on Tuesday evening and reiterated that he will deliver on pre-election pledges to roll back austerity measures and reject an international bailout extension.
The pound rose against the dollar, with GBP/USD up 0.26% to 1.5293, while USD/CHF held steady at 0.9265.
Elsewhere, USD/JPY rose 0.33% to trade at 119.83.
The yen weakened slightly after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the Group of 20 nations didn’t criticize his bank’s monetary easing program, indicating confidence to continue on the path of monetary stimulus.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were steady to lower, with AUD/USD declining 0.36% to 0.7742 and NZD/USD was little changed at 0.7404.
The Westpac Banking Corporation earlier reported that Australian consumer sentiment rose 8.0% this month, after an increase of 2.4% in January.
A separate report showed that home loans in Australia climbed 2.7% in December, beating expectations for a 2.0% rise. November’s figure was revised to a 0.4% downtick from a previously estimated 0.7% fall.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar slid lower, with USD/CAD up 0.22% to 1.2614.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 94.93.
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