EUR review

Worries about Greece's frail fiscal health continued to gnaw at the euro and highlight its underlying bearish bias. The situation in Greece has become so dire that Athens this week ordered local governments to fork over cash reserves to help the cash-strapped country better meet its obligations. 

A meeting of the Eurogroup of top finance officials Friday will give Greece another opportunity to win much needed bailout funds. Failure of Greece to earn more rescue money this week would heighten the risk of default and move it a step closer to exiting the euro, a scenario that could destabilize global markets and buoy traditional safety ports like the dollar and yen. 

Germany's ZEW survey of investor confidence unexpectedly fell to 53.3 in April, two points under forecasts, disappointing news that added more fuel to the softer euro.