(MENAFN- FxPro) The euro gave up early gains against the dollar on Monday to fall to session lows as fresh concerns over the prospects of a Greek default pressured the single currency lower.
EUR/USD was down 0.58%, retreating from the three-month highs of 1.1466 set on Friday.
Athens is scrambling to reach a cash-for-reform deal with its international lenders in time to avoid a cash crunch.
Over the weekend, a leaked memo from the International Monetary Fund showed that there is "no possibility" that Athens can meet a loan repayment due on June 5 without a deal to unlock outstanding bailout funds.
Last week Greece came close to defaulting on a ‚¬750 million IMF repayment, which it ultimately made by tapping emergency reserves in its holding account at the IMF.
The euro rose to three month highs against the broadly softer dollar last week after fresh batch of disappointing U.S. economic reports reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will delay hiking rates for longer.
The greenback regained ground on Monday as investors turned their attention to Friday's U.S. inflation data and Wednesday's minutes of the Fed's April meeting for fresh indications on the timing of an initial rate hike.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.51% to 93.76, recovering from Friday's four-month lows of 93.2.
The euro was also weaker against the yen and the pound, with EUR/JPY down 0.31% to 136.19 and EUR/GBP slipping 0.26% to 0.7260.
In Japan, data on Monday showed that core machinery orders rose 2.9% in March, the first increase in two months. However the report also indicated that core orders will fall in the current quarter, adding to concerns over the outlook for the recovery.
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