By: Barbara Zigah
Now that the Eurozone’s leadership have finally reached an accord which calls for, among other things, a 50% write-down of private Greek bondholder debt the common currency struck a 7-week high against the U.S. Dollar in Asian trading. As reported at 12:18 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro surged 0.6% against the greenback trading at $1.3995 and breaking through resistance. Additional resistance is pegged at $1.4013, and beyond that $1.4042. Analysts say that as more details of the plan are being released, the Euro is likely to continue to find support.
Traders are now just waiting for the final statement to be issued from the E.U. summit, but privately analysts believe it’s likely to lack the comprehensiveness that markets are hopeful of. Sketchy details are emerging however; according to the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, besides the 50% haircut, the EFSF will be leveraged by about four or five times its current value of €440 billion, or approximately €1 trillion.
In other news, the Bank of Japan announced additional stimulus measures to help the struggling economy as well as to suppress the appreciating currency which is detrimental to the economy’s growth. According to the press release, the BOJ will expand their asset purchasing and credit programs to 55 trillion Yen; further, the bank’s leadership said that they believe the easing measure will help to soften any possible repercussions of the Eurozone debt crisis. The USD/JPY pair is currently trading at 76.00 Yen.