Market News

The common currency Euro held its own today, close to a 2-week peak versus the U.S. Dollar in subdued Asian trading.

Profit taking by investors and the downgrading of Greece’s sovereign debt to junk grade status is slowing the momentum of the recent Euro rally.

The common currency Euro struck a 1-week peak versus the Japanese Yen on rising share prices in the Asian stock market.

On Sunday, the Chinese cabinet ordered local governments to improve the management of their investment agencies as a result of concerns that their loans -- estimated at hundreds of billions of US Dollars -- could become a problem for Chinese banks.

The EUR rose on Friday on the back of higher stocks, but the single currency struggled to extend its short-covering rally Vs. the USD ahead of technical resistance, while options barriers also capped gains.

In Asian trading today, the Aussie rose following the release of positive jobs data from Australia and a report on surging Chinese exports,

The U.S. Dollar slipped versus the Japanese Yen on unrealized investor expectations that Naoto Kan, the new Japanese P.M., would further address the issue of a weaker Japanese currency.

The common currency Euro and other high yielding currencies, including the New Zealand and Australian Dollars, rose against the Japanese Yen on investor short covering.

In Asian trading today, the common currency Euro slipped to new multi-year lows versus the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen, as well as the Swiss Franc.

For the second consecutive trading day, the Japanese Yen slipped broadly following the strong rebound in the global equity markets which sent investors in search of high yielding currencies.

The recent news from Japan that Yukio Hatoyama, the Prime Minister, would soon resign sent the Yen falling broadly in Asian trading today

The European Central Bank released its semi-annual stability report late yesterday, which noted significantly that Euro-zone banks will likely face an additional multi-billion Euro write-down in the second half of 2010 and throughout the 2011 calendar year, potentially reaching a net-loss as high as €195 billion.

In a subdued trading session as a result of holidays in both U.S. and U.K. markets, the single currency Euro moved higher versus the U.S. Dollar; as reported at 3:13 p.m.

As investors square their holdings in advance of the month’s end, the common currency Euro slipped against the greenback, trimming gains made in yesterday’s trading session.

Following last week’s narrow miss of a 4-year low versus the U.S. Dollar, the common currency Euro saw slight gains in Asian trading today.