IMF delegators left the negotiations on Greece

12.06.2015

On Friday, euro weakened against the US dollar as concerns over a possible Greek default intensified after the International Monetary Fund decided to refuse to participate in the negotiations, while the demand for the dollar was supported by the eve of the forthcoming publication of the US data.

In late Asian trade, the pair EUR/USD reached 1.1218, which is the session low and subsequently consolidated at 1.1224, shedding 0.28%.

The pair is likely to find support at 1.1080, the low of June 8 and resistance at 1.1332, Thursday's maximum.

The European currency has fallen off by more than 1% against the US dollar on Thursday, when the IMF refused to participate in talks on Greek debt, accusing Athens of failing to go on compromise on the labor market issues and pension reform.

The IMF said that its delegates leave Brussels and return to Washington, after the discussions stalled.

Today, on Friday, the Prime Minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras has to continue the talks with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels. However, the likelihood of such a meeting is now in doubt.

A spokesman of the Greek government announced that the team of negotiators is "ready" to intensify efforts to reach an agreement, "even in the next 24 hours."

Meanwhile, the demand for the dollar was supported as investors took a wait on the eve of today's publication of the American report on consumer sentiment to get additional guidance on the strength of the economy.

On Thursday, the US Labor Department reported that the number of initial applications for unemployment benefits for the week ended June 6 rose by 2000 to 279000 from a revised 277000 the previous week.

Also, the US Commerce Department said that retail sales rose 1.2% last month, surpassing expectations for growth of 1.1%. The base index of retail sales (excluding cars) rose in May by 1.0%, compared with an expected increase of 0.7%

The euro also weakened against the pound; the EUR/GBP pair fell 0.21% to 0.7237.

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