Euro drops to one-week low against dollar

Greeks vote no to austerity terms, raising risk of EU exit

German political economist Henrik Enderlein puts the likelihood of Greece's exit from the eurozone at 80 percent. Video: Reuters

The euro dropped to a one-week low against the dollar as Greeks voted against yielding to further austerity, raising the risk of an exit from the currency union that would call into question the bloc’s integrity.

Sixty-one per cent of Greek voters backed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s rejection of further spending cuts and tax increases in a referendum. Turnout was 62.5 per cent.

The yen strengthened against all its 16 major counterparts as the Greek crisis spurred demand for haven assets.

Australia’s dollar fell below 75 US cents.

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The euro slid 0.5 percent to $1.1055 in London after declining as much as 1.3 per cent to $1.0970, the lowest level since June 29th.

The shared currency tumbled 0.8 per cent to 135.31 yen. The yen gained 0.3 per cent to 122.38 per dollar.

The currency has been resilient amid the ebb and flow of Greek bailout talks, gaining 3.9 per cent versus the dollar in the three months through June 30, its best quarter since 2013.

The euro pared some of its losses after Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he was leaving the ministry.

Merkel, Hollande German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Paris on Monday to meet French President Francois Hollande.

Bloomberg