The dollar has weakened in comparison to its major European competitors on Monday, but has held steady compared to the Japanese Yen. Investor sentiment was impacted by the weaker than expected Japanese GDP result earlier today. There had been speculation that the Chinese government would announce some form of stimulus over the weekend, after the weak economic results the country reported late last week, but no announcement came.

Germany’s short-term debt fetched negative yields at an auction on Monday as investors effectively paid to lend money to the government in their scramble to safe-havens. On the other hand, Italy saw its borrowing costs rise due to concerns over the fiscal situation of the country.

According to Bundesbank data, Germany sold EUR 3.770 billion of its 6-month Bubill against a target of EUR 4 billion. The sale attracted bids totaling EUR 4.745 billion. The yield on the debt due February 2013 was -0.0499 percent versus -0.0344 percent at the previous sale on July 9. The bid-to-cover ratio, which reflects demand, fell to 1.30 from 1.70.

Elsewhere today, Italy placed EUR 8 billion of its 12-month treasury bills known as BoTs, meeting the target set for the sale. The sale drew bids totaling EUR 13.545 billion, the treasury said. The yield on the Italian debt rose to 2.767 percent from the 2.697 percent paid on July 12. Demand was 1.69 times the offer versus 1.55 times at the previous sale.

Austerity measures implemented to cut deficits pushed Greece’s economy deep into a prolonged recession in the second quarter, jeopardizing the government’s aim of meeting fiscal targets set by international aid donors. The economy contracted for the ninth straight time in the second quarter, but at a slower than expected pace, preliminary estimates from the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed Monday.

Gross domestic product declined 6.2 percent from the previous year. The annual decrease was slower than the 6.5 percent fall seen a quarter ago and a 7 percent drop forecast by economists.

The dollar fell to a 2-day low of $1.2370 versus the Euro Monday morning, but has since climbed back to around $1.2325.

Wholesale price inflation in Germany rose more than expected in July, the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed Monday. Wholesale price inflation quickened to 2 percent in July from 1.1 percent in June. The result was expected to increase to 1.3 percent.

French current account deficit widened in June after falling marginally in May, data from Bank of France showed Monday. The current account deficit narrowed to EUR 4.9 billion in June from a EUR 4 billion shortfall recorded in May.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King sees no clear end to euro area debt crisis. The gloomy outlook for the euro area debt crisis is weighing on the U.K. economy, King wrote in an article in Dailymail over the weekend.

“If the rest of the world were growing normally, the rebalancing and recovery of our economy would be much easier,” he said. “But it isn’t. Even the rapidly expanding emerging market economies are slowing, and the problems of the euro area continue with no obvious end in sight,” he wrote.

The Bank of England could do much more to foster the recovery of the economy, Adam Posen, an outgoing member of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said in an interview to the Financial Times.

The central bank could be much more effective in fostering economic recovery if it ditched “anguished religious ethics” over what it considered reasonable intervention, Posen was quoted as saying during the interview published on Sunday.

The greenback dropped to nearly a 2-week low of $1.5716 versus the pound sterling this morning, but has since bounced back to around $1.5680.

U.K. business sentiment reached its lowest level this year with economic prospects following a zigzag path, the latest Business Trends report by accountants and business advisers BDO LLP showed Monday. The optimism index slipped to 93.1 in July from 93.5 in June. The index has fallen for the fifth consecutive month.

The buck is little changed in comparison to the Japanese Yen on Monday. The U.S. currency has rebounded slightly from Friday’s low of Y78.152, back to around Y78.330.

Japan’s gross domestic product added just 0.3 percent in the second quarter compared to the previous three months, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary reading, suggesting that the recovery from last year’s earthquake and tsunami remains stuck in neutral. The headline figure missed forecasts for an increase of 0.6 percent, following the 1.6 percent gain in the first quarter.

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