Published by Mark AckroydThe euro continued its gains versus the US dollar last week, rising to $1.4147 in foreign exchange trading.It marked a 1.8 per cent rise for the currency and was the first time since September it had edged higher than $1.40, reports Bloomberg.Forex dealers may find it is necessary to take action in order to make the best of the recent rate changes.The multi-nation currency has now pushed higher against the greenback for the past three weeks and was given an additional boost by the announcement that European leaders had reached a deal to tackle the ongoing debt issues in the region.This saw banks holding Greek debts agreeing to write off 50 per cent of what is owed as part of the European Financial Stability Facility.Following its implementation the Greece's deficit will stand at €100 billion, meaning that by 2020 the amount owed should be 120 per cent of gross domestic product, an improvement on 160 per cent at present.Commenting on the situation, Greg Salvaggio, Tempus Consulting in Washington's senior vice-president of capital markets, said: "It's nice to see a group of officials actually act like adults and get something done in a welcome surprise to the market."The euro went higher. We now have to start focusing on if it has really been contained. It's still a very, very thick animal over there."Meanwhile, the US dollar was also impacted by a belief among some analysts that a new round of asset purchases are likely to be introduced by the Federal Reserve.This caused it to tumble versus a number of major currencies, including the Japanese yen, which last week moved to 75.82, up 0.6 per cent.The 17-nation euro fared better against the yen, advancing to 107.28, an increase of 1.2 per cent.For more information on foreign exchange treasury services and risk management, visit our Corporate FX site