Euro rises vs dollar, but stays near multi-mth low

G7 on Greece inadequate, more needed: analysts
NEW YORK: The euro edged higher against the dollar on Monday but stayed close to an 8-1/2 month low as a slight recovery in investors' appetite for risk offset worries about the fiscal health of some eurozone countries.
This weekend's Group of Seven meeting did not lead to concrete action to tackle the sovereign debt problems of eurozone countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain.
European ministers told counterparts at the meeting they would ensure Greece sticks to its budget-cutting plan. Analysts said more was needed to reassure markets eurozone debt problems would not upset global economic recovery.
"The equity market has come back to flat and with that ...we saw euro/dollar popping towards the $1.37 level," said Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets. "The move that we've seen today in euro/dollar is still confined to a very narrow range and the market is still waiting for direction."
In midday trading, the euro was up 0.3 per cent on the day at $1.3696, not far from a level of $1.3585 hit on trading platform EBS on Friday, its lowest since May. The currency had earlier hit a session peak of $1.3714, according to Reuters data.
The single European currency has shed nearly 10 per cent from a 15-month high of $1.5145 hit in late November over growing fears Portugal and Spain could face the same kind of fiscal problems Greece is suffering.
US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed investors increased bets on further dollar gains in the latest week. Dollar net long positions were at their highest in 11 months. The net short euro position rose to a record high, according to Barclays Capital and Scotia Capital data.
Against a basket of currencies, the US dollar was down 0.4 per cent at 80.124. However, it was not far from a high of 80.683 hit on Friday, its strongest since July 2009. The dollar was flat at 89.35 yen while the euro rose 0.3 per cent to 122.46 yen. Among perceived higher-risk currencies, the Australian dollar was up 0.3 per cent at $0.8700. -Reuters