Forex - Dollar broadly lower vs. rivals as euro regains ground

Investing.com – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Monday, as the euro regained ground, ahead of a Greek vote on an austerity package which is central to plans for the country to receive further bailout funds.

During early U.S. trade, the greenback was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD climbing 0.51% to hit 1.4262.

The single currency found support after French lenders proposed a plan to reinvest half of the proceeds from maturing Greek government bonds into new 30-year Greek bonds.

Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou is seeking parliamentary approval for a EUR28.4 billion, five-year austerity package on Wednesday, in order to access a EUR12 billion bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

The greenback slipped against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.15% to hit 1.5982.

The greenback was higher against the yen but dipped against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY advancing 0.62% to hit 80.93 and USD/CHF sliding 0.12% to hit 0.8325.

Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian counterpart but higher against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD slipping 0.12% to hit 0.9871, AUD/USD shedding 0.50% to hit 1.0439 and NZD/USD tumbling 1.08% to hit 0.8043.

Earlier in the day, official data showed that New Zealand’s trade surplus contracted more-than-expected in May, due to a sharp drop in dairy export volumes and a spike in oil and aircraft part imports.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.38%.

Earlier Monday, official data showed that U.S. personal spending was unexpectedly flat in May as automobile sales declined, while personal income rose broadly in line with expectations.

Meanwhile, the core personal consumption expenditure index rose 0.3% in May, the largest gain since October 2009.