Euro sags after Greece, creditors strike deal

[WASHINGTON] The euro slumped against the dollar on Monday after Greece and its official creditors agreed a new bailout deal that, at least for the moment, removed the cloud of crisis from the market.

The euro earned a short-lived spike higher after news of the deal, which will keep Greece from dropping out of the euro area, came after 17 hours of intense negotiations between Athens and European leaders.

But then the dollar powered higher, adding more than 1 per cent from Friday, as the fundamentals of contrasting central bank policies - tightening in the United States and easing in the eurozone - returned to the market.

The euro jumped to nearly US$1.12 in the moments after after the deal was announced, but then steadily fell to the US$1.10 level.

The euro's fall is "not at all surprising," said Boris Schlossberg of BK Asset Management.

"At very least the ECB (European Central Bank) will have to aggressively continue its QE programme to simply stabilise demand after the trauma incurred over the past month. That will likely put sustained pressure on the euro in the near term," he said.

AFP

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