Euro rises on Greek austerity package The euro rose against the dollar, the yen and the pound on Monday after Greek politicians pushed through a package of austerity measures in return for a second €130bn bail-out. The single currency moved up 0.4 per cent against the dollar to $1.3258, 0.6 per cent against the yen to Y103.03 and was 0.1 per cent higher against the pound at £0.8383. Figures released on Friday showed speculators had further trimmed their short positions on the euro against the dollar, betting that the single currency will fall against the greenback, though a majority remained bearish on the European currency. "There remains plenty of scope for further short covering gains and we hold to the view that we could see $1.35 on successful completion of the Greek bail-out package," said analysts at BNP Paribas. The dollar sold off against most other major currencies as risk appetite rose on the news. The pound rose 0.2 per cent to $1.5810 while the Australian dollar rose 0.6 per cent to $1.0759. The yen was weaker against other major currencies after figures showed the Japanese economy shrunk again in the fourth quarter of last year. The country's gross domestic product was 2.3 per cent lower between October and December on an annualised basis from a year before. Analysts had predicted only a 1.3 per cent fall. The yen was 0.2 per cent lower against the dollar at Y77.73, while the pound rose 0.4 per cent to Y122.76. The Swiss franc gained 0.4 per cent against the dollar to SFr0.9117 but was flat against the euro at SFr1.2087.