By: Barbara Zigah
In U.K. trading this morning, the common currency Euro gained against the U.S. Dollar for the second trading session. Investors are confident that an announcement of a rescue package for Greece will be made within the next few days. The Euro was under significant pressure earlier this week, as a result of investor concerns over the sovereign debt downgrades of Portugal and Spain by Standard & Poor’s. A statement by a spokesman from the Ministry of Finance in Germany reiterated that the fiscal troubles of Portugal and Spain are entirely dissimilar to that of Greece, and that statement assuaged investor concerns helping to prop up the Euro. Further, the spokesman commented that the Greek rescue package could be completed by next week, in advance of the German regional elections. As reported at 9:32 a.m. in the U.K., the Euro rose .7% against the U.S. Dollar, to trade at $1.3319. The Euro also gained versus the Japanese Yen, rising nearly 1% to trade at 125.60 Yen. In spike of recent gains, since late last year, the Euro has declined nearly 12% versus the greenback.
Versus a basket of weighted currencies, the U.S. Dollar Index slipped to 81.747 .DXY, a loss of .3%, largely attributed to whetted investor risk appetite. Later today, the U.S. economic growth report will be released, and analysts predict that first quarter of 2010 will show an increase, on an annualized basis 3.4%, suggesting that the American economy is outpacing Japan and the Euro-zone.