Euro pares gains in Asia

The euro pared its gains against the dollar on Monday and pulled back from a one-month high after Standard & Poor's said a debt rollover plan being considered for Greece may put the country into selective default. The euro had hit a one-month high of $1.4580 earlier on Monday, buoyed by diminished worries over the risk that Greece may default in the short-term, with stop-loss buying adding to its rise.
But the announcement by S&P poured some cold water on the euro's rally, which has also drawn support from market expectations that the European Central Bank will raise interest rates at a policy meeting later this week. "The euro is being sold on the news about Greece... But for now I think it's more of a knee-jerk reaction," said a trader for a Japanese bank in Tokyo. "Whatever you may call it, the fact is that the Greeks earned themselves some time," the trader said.
The euro edged up 0.1 percent from late US trading on Friday to $1.4538. It fell from around $1.4550 to as low as $1.4510 after the S&P comments. Earlier on Monday, it had risen as high as $1.4580 on trading platform EBS, its highest since early June. One reason behind the recent optimism related to Greece's problems was the expectation that a second rescue scheme for Greece in which private sector investors bear some of the burden would come together, said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief FX strategist Japan for Barclays Capital in Tokyo.
"It looked like that was going to work, but this casts some doubts about that," Yamamoto said, referring to the S&P's announcement. Still, the issue of private sector involvement and a possible debt rollover has to do with a second aid package for Greece that is due to be finalised in the next few months, and in the meantime, falls in the euro could be limited ahead of this week's ECB meeting, Yamamoto said. Eurozone finance ministers on Saturday approved a 12 billion euro instalment of Greece's bailout and said details of a second aid package for Athens would be finalised by mid-September.
However, they signalled that Greece must expect significant losses of sovereignty and jobs. As well, whether Athens can successfully implement the reforms demanded by international lenders remains to be seen. All of which means the euro's path higher will be strewn with obstacles.