Euro rises versus dollar as Greek concerns

The single European currency was strengthening against the U.S. dollar in foreign exchange markets on Monday as investors were cheered by positive news from Greece that its pro-bailout New Democracy party was leading in the latest opinion polls. As of 07:33 GMT, the euro rose to 1.2584 to the dollar, up from 1.2518 on Friday. The greenback sank against the Japanese yen to 79.4 Japanese yen per dollar, from 79.68 yen at the close of the previous session. The latest public opinion polls released on Saturday showed Greece’s New Democracy party, which supports Greece’s international bailout agreements with the EU and the IMF, was gaining from 25.6 percent to 27.7 percent of voters’ support while the Syriza radical left coalition, was trailing behind with 20.1-26 percent ahead of the June parliamentary poll. As of 07:58 GMT, Britain’s FTSE 100 stock index was up 0.95 percent to 5,402.37 points, Germany’s DAX rose 1.16 percent to 6,413.17 points and France’s CAC 40 grew 0.83 percent to 3,073.37 points. The Russian stock market, which has shed 15 percent of its value in the past month on lingering eurozone debt concerns, was also recovering in Monday trade. As of 12:03 p.m. Moscow time (08:03 GMT), the ruble-denominated MICEX stock index was up 1.43 percent to 1,299.87 points while the dollar-denominated RTS went up 1.45 percent to 1,291.99 points. In the Russian foreign exchange market, the ruble gained 16 kopecks against the dollar to 31.89 rubles to the dollar and fell by 6 kopecks against the euro to 40.12.