Despite The Overhang Of Europe's

(Reuters) - The euro traded in a narrow range after hitting a new two-month high against the dollar on Thursday after Greek leaders agreed to a deal on reforms needed to avoid a messy default and the European Central Bank chief flagged tentative economic improvement in the euro zone. Greece's deal removed an important obstacle for the euro, which had been trading narrowly as investors placed bets based on headlines. With the overhang of Greece out of the way, the euro's strength could prove to be temporary, with the focus likely shifting to larger debt-burdened countries, such as Italy and Spain. Greek political leaders clinched a long-stalled deal on reforms and austerity measures to secure a second international bailout and avoid a chaotic default, hours before the country's financial ...

Robust U.S. jobs data spurred investors to buy the U.S. dollar and sell yen on Friday with the rosier economic report curtailing some expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold off raising interest rates until 2014. The strong jobs data diminished the greenback's safe haven status as investors took on more risk. The main beneficiary was the euro where initial losses on the report were erased by the end of trade despite the overhang of Europe's sovereign debt crisis. Data from the U.S. Labor Department showed 243,000 non-farm jobs were created in January, its fastest pace in nine months, pulling the unemployment rate to an unexpected three year low of 8.3 percent. Friday's data erodes the argument for more economic stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve and for some investors even ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares edged down on Tuesday as fears about the ability of politicians on either side of the Atlantic to tackle huge debt burdens sapped investors' confidence in the outlook for Western economies. The dollar held gains near a 6-week high against a basket of currencies, with European banks scrambling to secure dollar cash as money markets seize up, and equity volumes were thin, indicating that risk aversion remained high. "There is no fundamental change in the markets' risk averse mood. There's been no clear progress in the euro zone," said Koji Fukaya, chief foreign exchange strategist at Credit Suisse. Shares in China and Hong Kong were hit after central bank data showed Beijing may have sold foreign currency to prop up the yuan for the first time in four years in ...

(Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rose for a third straight day to hit a fresh three-month high on Tuesday due to low oil inventories, while Brent dipped below $111 due to concerns over Europe's economy. Brent crude futures fell 36 cents to $111.09 a barrel by 1322 GMT as it flipped between being barely positive and barely negative. U.S. crude was up $2.30 at $93.57 after hitting $94.65, the highest intraday price since early August. U.S. crude futures outpaced the rest of the oil futures complex. U.S. crude has risen more than 10 percent over the past three trading sessions, compared with a gain of about 1.5 percent in Brent crude prices. On Monday, the U.S. prompt December 2011 contract rose above the January contract, flipping into a price structure known as backwardation, which ...

The Weekly Bottom Line HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK United States * Economic data were sparse early in the week, but equities still performed well following some successful debt auctions in Europe * By the week's end, markets turned their attention to a torrent of data releases including retail sales, industrial production and CPI * However, the releases offered few major surprises, and the market's reaction was muted * The releases did however signal that as some sectors of the economy - including manufacturing and consumer spending - continue to press forward, price pressures and Eurozone worries remain an ever present challenge to the recovery Canada * The Canadian dollar has showed some renewed strength through the first two weeks of 2011, rising past parity vis-à- ...