Euro rises against dollar ahead of Greek vote

NEW YORK (AP) - The euro rose slightly against the dollar Friday on expectations that global central banks are willing to help if Europe's debt crisis gets worse.
Traders will be watching Sunday's Greek election closely. If a new government rejects terms of the country's bailout loans, Greece could be forced to abandon the euro currency. That could shake confidence in the euro and disrupt global financial markets.
Reuters reported that central banks from major economies would help stabilize markets depending on the outcome of the elections. That helped push the euro higher.
The euro rose to $1.2637 late Friday from $1.2600 late Thursday. The euro rose 1.4 percent against the dollar this week, but it's still down 2.7 percent so far this year.
The dollar also fell against most other currencies Friday. The British pound rose to $1.5678 from $1.5533.
The dollar fell to 78.71 Japanese yen from 79.27 yen, to 0.9504 Swiss franc from 0.9531 Swiss franc and to 1.0232 Canadian dollar from 1.0263 Canadian dollar.
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