Euro Holds No. 1 Spot as EU Shows Resolve on Greece Debt

European Union leaders are showing their resolve in keeping the euro region together, agreeing in an unannounced meeting on May 6 to review the terms of the 110 billion-euro ($158 billion) lifeline Greece received last year.

The euro tumbled 3.45 percent in the final two days of last week, the biggest back-to-back loss since 2008, as the European Central Bank signaled it is in no rush to raise interest rates and Der Spiegel magazine said Greece may withdraw from the currency bloc. EU officials denied the report and said Greece will need more aid after investors drove yields on its two-year notes to more than 25 percent.

Even with last week’s decline, the single European currency remains this year’s best performer after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Jan. 12 her country would do “whatever is needed to support the euro,” exports grew and the ECB raised borrowing costs for the first time since 2008. 

Bloomberg Correlation Weighted Indexes show the euro has gained 3 percent against nine of its most-traded peers, compared with a drop of 5.1 percent in the dollar and 4.6 percent in the yen.

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