Euro surges on inflation as investors seek clarity on Greece
| London
European shares dipped on Tuesday while German bond yields rose, with investors scrabbling for clarity over whether a high-level meeting on聽Greece's debt crisis might herald a significant breakthrough.
The聽euro聽rose nearly 1 percent against the dollar, which earlier hit a 12 1/2-year high against the yen, but traders said this was related to an above-forecast rise in聽euro聽zone inflation rather than to the Greek drama.
U.S. stocks looked set to open lower, according to index futures.
The leaders of聽Germany聽and聽France聽and聽Greece's international creditors agreed late on Monday to work with "real intensity" as they try to reach a deal that would prevent聽Athens聽from defaulting and potentially leaving the聽euro聽zone.
Greek Prime Minister Tsipras said聽Athens聽had sent creditors a "comprehensive" and "realistic" package of reforms and urged聽Europe's leaders to accept it.
"The fact that five such political and financial heavyweights met about聽Greece聽means they are trying to force a break in the political deadlock and that's a positive development that's likely to lift risk sentiment. But we will have to wait to see the Greek reaction," said KBC strategist聽Mathias van der Jeugt.
Athens聽is due to make a 300 million聽euro聽debt repayment to the聽International Monetary Fund聽on Friday.
The pan-European聽FTSEurofirst 300聽stock index fell 0.5 percent.聽Germany's DAX was down 0.6 percent, as was the main聽Athens stock聽index.
"The real money is still sitting on the sidelines because God knows what's going to happen to聽Greece," said聽Justin Haque, a trader at brokerage Hobart.
Yields on safe-haven German 10-year bonds rose 8.5 basis points to 0.6 percent, while those on lower-rated Spanish, Italian and Portuguese debt touched their highest of the year after the data showing inflation resumed in the聽euro聽zone last month.
Prices rose 0.3 percent, beating forecasts of a 0.2 percent increase.
Earlier, Asian shares fell for a second day as a strong dollar weighed on commodity prices.
MSCI's main index of聽Asia-Pacific聽shares, excluding聽Japan, fell 1.1 percent and聽Tokyo's Nikkei closed down 0.1 percent.
China's CSI300 index of the biggest listed companies in聽Shanghai聽and聽Shenzhen聽rose 1.7 percent. After rising almost 5 percent on Monday, Chinese indexes have regained nearly all the ground lost in a sell-off last Thursday.
The聽euro聽was up 0.9 percent at $1.1022.
"A spike higher in the聽euro聽near the 50-day moving average, helped by the better聽Euro-area consumer price inflation, is putting pressure on the dollar," said聽Keng Goh, a strategist with RBC Capital Markets in聽London.
Earlier, the dollar rose to more than 125 yen for the first time since 2002, peaking at 125.07, before retreating. It last stood at 124.74 yen, flat on the day.
Aussie
The Australian dollar was up 1 percent at $0.7680 after the聽Reserve Bank of Australia聽kept interest rates steady and did not offer a clear bias to ease policy again.
Oil prices rose as strong demand outweighed expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would not cut production when it meets in聽Vienna聽on Friday. Brent crude was up 41 cents at $65.29 a barrel.
Gold held steady at $1,190.46 an ounce, down from Monday's peak above $1,200.
(Additional reporting by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Francesco Canepa and Jamie McGeever in聽London, Lisa Twaronite in聽Tokyo; editing by John Stonestreet and Gareth Jones)
