Euro weakens on impasse in Greece talks, Aussie up after minutes

The euro weakened further on Tuesday as talks between Greece and euro zone finance ministers reached an impasse, setting the stage for the current bailout agreement to lapse at the end of the month.

Greece's Finance Minister Yiannis Varoufakis said Monday that he was ready to sign a document drafted by the European Commission, which outlined a deal between Greece and its partners.

However, Varoufakis said, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem presented him with another document, which referred to past policies and was vague in key issues such as "flexibility", which he could not accept.

Overnight, the dollar remained moderately lower against the other major currencies on Friday, as recent downbeat U.S. data continued to weigh and as trading volumes were expected to remain light with U.S. markets closed for the Presidents Day Holiday.

Sentiment on the dollar remained vulnerable after data on Friday showed that the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 93.6, down from January’s final reading of 98.1. Economists had forecast an unchanged figure

The report came a day after data showing that U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.8% last month after dropping 0.9% in December, indicating that consumer spending remained sluggish at the start of the year.

Varchev Finance