On February 18, 2009 at 7:29 GMT in Tokyo, the Euro resurged from a 2-month low against the U.S. Dollar, but worries remained about the health of the regional banks, following warnings from ratings agencies which prompted concern over the impact of a profound recession in Eastern Europe.
Societe Generale reported a net profit of approximately 87 million Euros for the last quarter of 2008, which beat expectations, compared to the huge loses reported by rival regional banks. However, the Euro remained under selling pressure because of the global financial crisis.
Moody's, the global credit rating agency, warned that it will downgrade banks in the Euro Zone with considerable exposure to the deteriorating economies in Central and Eastern Europe; meanwhile a competitor rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, reported that is likely that they will begin to review the ratings of emerging European banks.
The Euro fell to it lowest since December 4, 2008 to $1.2558 on the EBS trading platform, before regaining to around $1.2617, an increase of 0.2% from Tuesday’s trading in the U.S. Against the Japanese Yen, the Euro rose by 0.2% to 116.50 Yen. The U.S. Dollar was steady against the Japanese Yen and traded at 92.32 Yen after it rose on Tuesday to a 30-day high of 92.75 Yen.