NEW YORK: The euro climbed against the dollar Thursday, buoyed by successful debt auctions by France and Spain and signs of respite in the protracted eurozone debt crisis.
The euro was traded at $1.2961 around 2200 GMT, up sharply from $1.2862 at the same time Wednesday.
The euro jumped to 99.97 yen from 98.78 yen, and the dollar also rose against the Japanese currency, to 77.15 yen from 76.80 yen.
Debt auctions by France and Spain proved successful, despite their suffering ratings downgrades last Friday from Standard & Poor's.
"Strong and healthy demand (for French and Spanish debt) demonstrated how undisturbed the markets were by the recent S&P downgrade that deprived France of its triple-A rating," Gekko Global Markets trader Anita Paluch told AFP.
Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at Forex.com, said the French and Spanish bond auctions "attracted strong demand and yields fell, which is exactly what the EU wants to see."
In Greece, the epicenter of the eurozone's public debt crisis, private creditors reported "progress" in talks to write down Greek debt. A deal is required before Athens can get a second international bailout from the EU and the IMF.
Meanwhile, it emerged that the International Monetary Fund had approved talks with Greece on the fresh rescue.
"Negotiations over the Greek debt swap are nearing a potentially successful conclusion, and this also appears to be bolstering short-term euro sentiment," said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at Forex.com.
A batch of mostly encouraging US economic data further whetted risk appetites and helped to push US stocks higher, analysts said.
"A risk-on mode (is) in play at the moment," said Alan Ruskin, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.
The risk-positive mood "has been led primarily by US equity going to the upside," Ruskin said.
Wall Street stocks finished higher on solid bank earnings and news that fewer Americans made new claims for unemployment benefits than at any point in the last three years.
Against the Swiss currency, the dollar slipped to 0.9326 francs from 0.9391 late Wednesday.
The British pound rose to $1.5480 from $1.5435.
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