EU session review: Euro strengthens

Data released:
09:00     Germany     ZEW economic expectations index (July)    -15.1    -7.0    -9.0

The euro strengthened against the dollar and Swiss franc on speculation European officials are nearing agreement on reinforcing measures aimed to prevent debt crisis from extention.
The 17-nation currency also rose versus the yen as Italian bonds narrowed their yield spread, over German debt.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said a resolution of the crisis is “attainable” and European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny signaled the ECB may be willing to compromise on the use of Greek bonds as collateral after a default.
Negotiations over a second bailout package for Greece should be “positive for the viability of the public debt” and safeguard the nation’s banking system, Venizelos said.
Even in the event of a default, the ECB may be willing to accept Greek debt as collateral, Nowotny suggested.
The Canada’s currency fell as global stocks dropped and raw materials including crude oil and copper fell. Crude oil for August delivery decreased 1.1% to $96.15 a barrel in New York. Oil is Canada’s biggest export. Copper futures fell 0.2%.
Foreign investors bought C$15.4 billion ($16 billion) of Canadian stocks, bonds and money market securities in May, their biggest net purchase in a year, led by federal government bonds, Statistics Canada said.

EUR/USD broke above $1.4200 and printed session high on $1.4220. Rate failed to go higher and retreated to below the figure - to current $1.4165.

GBP/USD initially rose to $1.6160 before it retreated to $1.6100/10.

USD/JPY continues to weaken from Y79.10 to Y78.90.

US data starts at 1145GMT with the weekly ICSC-Goldman Store Sales data, which is followed at 1230GMT by Housing Starts and Building Permits data. The pace of housing starts is expected to rise to a 575,000 annual rate in June, which would be a second straight gain.