Market News

The Euro held close to a 4-month low versus the greenback as investors assess the likelihood that Cyprus may be compelled to leave the Eurozone now that its parliament rejected recently proposed terms of a new bailout package.

The Euro continues to hold close to a 3-month low against its main rival, the U.S. Dollar, as investors fail to derive any comfort from further details of the Cyprus bailout plan.

The Euro took a nosedive during Monday’s Asian trading session on the news that the bailout plan for Cyprus is to include a tax on bank deposits which was seen by investors as a high-risk precedent which might eventually trigger a run on other Eurozone area banks.

The greenback’s recent rally paused during Friday’s trading session in Asia, though analysts expect that the U.S. Dollar’s upward track is likely to resume given the stronger fundamentals and improved outlook in the U.S. economy.

The U.S. Dollar Index held close to a 7-month peak versus a weighted basket of its major rivals following the release of unexpectedly improved retail sales data which gave a lift to expectations that U.S. consumers might be able to weather the newly imposed spending cuts and tax increases.

The Japanese Yen’s recent sell off slowed during the Asian trading session though analysts don’t believe that the respite will be long lived as expectations for the Yen’s continued depreciation are rampant given an exceptionally dovish Bank of Japan.

The Japanese Yen struck a new multi-year low against its main rival, the U.S. Dollar, during Tuesday’s Asian trading session on investors’ expectations that the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy is about to become even dovish than initially anticipated.

The U.S. Dollar held close to a 3-year peak against the Japanese Yen as well as most major currencies during Monday’s Asian trading session, propelled their by much better than expected jobs data last Friday which fueled investors optimism that the largest economy in the world is well on the road to recovery.

During the Asian trading session, the Euro managed to hold on to earlier gains in the wake of a Euro rally which followed the European Central Bank’s surprising policy decision.

The U.S. Dollar rose broadly, and the U.S. Dollar Index held close to a multi-months peak during the Asian trading session following the release of better than expected private sector jobs data which suggested that the world’s largest economy is finally showing signs of improvement.

The Euro and other commodity-linked currencies firmed during Wednesday’s Asian trading session, supported by an improvement in investors’ risk appetite which lifted Wall Street to a record close of 14,253.77 points, a gain of 125.95 points.

Following concerns that Italy’s economy has shrunk, the euro fell against the yen in Tuesday’s Asian session, falling 0.4 percent to 121.24 yen.

The Japanese Yen moved broadly higher following a steep drop in China’s key equity markets which prompted forex traders to seek out the safe haven currency.

According to a report published by the Federal Reserve on Thursday, US consumer debt rose at the end of 2013 for the first time in four years.

The Euro held steady against both the Japanese Yen and the U.S. Dollar during the Asian trading session after smooth sailing and solid demand for the Italian government’s sale of 5-year and 10-year sovereign bonds.