Investing.com - The euro fell to fresh two-week lows against the dollar on Wednesday as concerns over the prospects of a Greek default weighed ahead of a critical June 5 deadline for Athens to reach a deal with its creditors.
EUR/USD was down 0.59% to 1.1084, the lowest level since May 5 from 1.1148 late Tuesday.
Athens is scrambling to reach an agreement with its international lenders over economic reforms they say must be implemented before the final €7.2 billion tranche of the country's €240 billion bailout is released.
Greece is due to make a €305 million payment to the International Monetary Fund on June 5, but will default if a deal is not reached by then.
The single currency weakened across the board on Tuesday after the European Central Bank indicated that it would speed up the pace of its stimulus program, while robust U.S. housing data boosted the dollar.
The euro ended Tuesday’s session down 1.6% against the greenback after senior ECB policymaker Benoit Coeure said the bank is planning to speed up the pace of its bond-buying stimulus program before the summer, in order to avoid lower market liquidity in late July and August.
The greenback was boosted after data showing that U.S. housing starts rose to the highest level in nearly seven-and-a-half years in April and building permits also jumped.
The upbeat data boosted hopes for a rebound in second quarter economic growth after a sharp slowdown in the first three months of the year.
Investors were looking to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s April meeting, due for release later Wednesday, for fresh indications on the timing of an initial rate hike.
The euro was lower against the yen, with EUR/JPY slipping 0.36% to 134.07, while USD/JPY advanced to two month highs of 121.06.
In Japan, data on Wednesday showed that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.4% in the first quarter, ahead of estimates for growth of 1.5%.
The upbeat data boosted the Nikkei, dampening demand for the safe-haven yen.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.51% to almost three-week highs of 95.85.