By: Barbara Zigah
The common currency Euro continues its descent in the wake of investor concerns about Eurozone debt; in focus this time is whether or not the Portuguese and Spanish governments will seek financial help to resolve their respective fiscal crises.
As reported at 12:03 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro slipped against the U.S. Dollar to $1.3235; earlier in the trading session it had struck $1.3182. Late last week it slipped through the 100-day moving average, and one banker in Spain commented that it if breaks the 200-day moving average it could push the common currency lower to even $1.27. Versus the Japanese Yen, the Euro traded at 111.00 Yen, off from the 111.34 Yen traded late Friday.
One recently arisen worry is that the joint mission which was created to aid ailing Eurozone economies may not have sufficient funds to help Spain, should they ask for assistance. The Spanish economy, the 9th largest in the world, is about twice that of the other three debt-burdened Eurozone nations combined, i.e. Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which is a measure of the greenback’s strength versus othe major currencies, including the common currency Euro, was trading at 80.390 .DXY, slightly off the 2-month high of 80.652 .DXY struck earlier.