Early trade in New York: euro rises on optimism as G20 seen tackling woes

The euro rose on Friday on optimism that European leaders were making progress on plans to contain the eurozone debt crisis, despite caution that this week's rally might be overdone. Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs began a two-day meeting in Paris on Friday, a day after the eurozone's 17 member nations completed their approval of the expansion of the region's bailout fund.
A report that the International Monetary Fund will present a plan to its executive board to make short-term credit lines available to fundamentally healthy countries hit by liquidity crises also helped support risk appetite. The euro touched a session high of $1.3895 on the EBS trading platform after breaking above $1.3838, a key chart level that marks the 50 percent Fibonacci retracement of its August high and October low. Against the yen, the euro gained 0.9 percent to 106.85 yen, and firmed 0.26 percent against the Swiss franc at 1.2397 francs. The US dollar rose 0.2 percent against the yen to 76.990, below a one-month high around 77.48 yen touched earlier this week.