- EU leaders in fourth day of negotiations on recovery package
- U.S. dollar index touches 6-week low
- Trump signs off on plan to seek $1 trillion more in virus relief
- Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
(Updates to mid-afternoon, changes byline)
The euro climbed to its highest in more than four months against the dollar on Monday on hopes for an imminent agreement on a recovery fund for European Union economies hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fund is expected to total around 750 billion euros ($857.93 billion), of which 390 billion euros could be offered as grants.
EU Council President Charles Michel said he was confident his new proposal to the 27 leaders, which included 390 billion euros of grants and 360 billion euros of loans, a document showed, could be the basis for a deal many say is critical to dispel doubts about the bloc's very future. [nL5N; Editing by Richard Chang2ER21R]
"It is the main story right now and there are signs of progress and that has been very positive for risk appetite and that is why we are seeing the euro kind of remain near its recent highs," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda in New York.
Positive news about a potential COVID-19 vaccine from a trio of early trials, including an experimental coronavirus vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University also added to overall market optimism and lifted currencies that thrive in times of heightened risk appetite, such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars.
In afternoon trading, the euro was last up 0.12% at $1.1441, after hitting a more than four-month high of $1.14675 EUR=EBS .
Analysts said the smaller the amount of grants from the EU fund, the more the euro would fall. The U.S. dollar index USD= fell 0.1% to 95.826 after sliding to a six-week low hit earlier in the session.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed off on an effort to seek an additional $1 trillion in coronavirus economic relief, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Monday, as Republicans laid out their initial proposal for talks with Democrats.
Still, the U.S. Congress is bracing for a battle on the proposed stimulus bill that could boost safe-haven bids for the dollar.
The dollar rose 0.29% versus the Japanese yen to 107.30 JPY=EBS and was up 0.1% against the Swiss franc to 0.9393 franc CHF=EBS .
The Australian and New Zealand dollars, however, gained against the greenback to US$0.7011 AUD=D3 and US$0.6571 NZD=D3 .
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 3:02PM (1902 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1439 $1.1426 +0.11% +2.04% +1.1467 +1.1403 Dollar/Yen JPY= 107.3000 106.9900 +0.29% -1.43% +107.5200 +107.0200 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 122.75 122.30 +0.37% +0.66% +122.9700 +122.1900 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9392 0.9384 +0.09% -2.96% +0.9410 +0.9374 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2662 1.2565 +0.77% -4.50% +1.2665 +1.2519 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3534 1.3576 -0.31% +4.22% +1.3600 +1.3525 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7011 0.6995 +0.23% -0.14% +0.7016 +0.6974 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0745 1.0723 +0.21% -0.99% +1.0776 +1.0721 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9033 0.9088 -0.61% +6.85% +0.9138 +0.9032 NZ NZD= 0.6571 0.6556 +0.23% -2.45% +0.6573 +0.6540 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 9.2321 9.2928 -0.65% +5.17% +9.3228 +9.2311 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.5622 10.6240 -0.58% +7.36% +10.6353 +10.5567 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.9747 9.0334 -0.58% -3.99% +9.0640 +8.9734 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.2683 10.3285 -0.58% -1.92% +10.3395 +10.2690 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Euro jumps to 4-month high https://tmsnrt.rs/3fN2M7r^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>