Forex - Euro holds weaker on Greece stalemate, yen down on retail sales

Investing.com - The euro fell and the yen weakened in Asia on Tuesday with investors noting talks on a bailout for Greece at a standstill and retail sales in Japan down more than expected.

EUR/USD traded at 1.0877, down 0.13%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 119.14, up 0.08%. AUD/USD traded at 0.7866, up 0.12%, after comments from the central bank governor that were meant to be general observations, not policy views.

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said late Monday that significant differences with creditors remain and that if Greece were to be pushed to agree to a deal that is was outside Syriza's pre-election commitments, he would call a referendum in order to have it validated.

But he said he still expects a deal by May 9.

"I have not decided for a referendum, let's be clear," Tsipras said. "I am answering to a hypothetical question. I truly believe we will reach an honorable agreement."

At a wealth management event, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens on Tuesday said he had no comments on monetary policy ahead of the bank's board meeting next week. The RBA's next policy meeting is May 5. But he did generally comment that saving for retirement in an era of low yields is a steep challenge.

In Japan March preliminary retail sales data showed a drop of 9.7% year-on-year, compared to an expected drop of 7.3%, and posting the third straight year-on-year drop after -1.7% in February and -2.0% in January.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, eased 0.05% to 96.85.

Overnight, the dollar pared gains against a basket of other major currencies in subdued trade on Monday, after the greenback mildly recovered from Friday's downbeat U.S. data and as markets began to focus on the Federal Reserve's policy statement due on Wednesday.

The dollar had come under pressure after the Commerce Department reported Friday that orders for durable goods, excluding aircraft, fell 0.5% in March, after a downwardly revised 2.2% drop in February.

The headline figure rose 4.0%, beating expectations for a 0.6% gain, but investors focused on underlying weakness in the report.

The data came after recent weak reports on home sales, retail sales and industrial production, adding to signs of a slowdown in economic growth since the start of the year.

The weak data led investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

The single currency remained under pressure after euro area finance ministers said Friday that Greece must present a full economic reform plan by early May in order to access any further funding.