Euro Softens, Aussie Firms

By: Barbara Zigah

The Euro continues to be pressured by events in Greece as politicians there postpone what is a critical decision on the second bailout offering that will affect the country’s economic future. Without agreeing to the terms of the €130 billion package, the country faces a disorderly default which analysts say could destabilize the Eurozone. As reported at 12:45 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro-Dollar was trading at $1.3101, down slightly from New York trading and well off the 6-week peak of $1.3233 which was struck last week. Currency analysts say that $1.3230 is again proving to be a point of resistance.

Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of Australia surprised the experts by doing nothing and leaving their benchmark rate fixed at the current 4.25%. As a result the Australian Dollar rose against the U.S. Dollar to a 6-month peak of $1.0812. The press statement released by the RBA suggested that the central bank would consider easing monetary policy further if domestic demand continued to weaken.

The U.S. Dollar was also higher against the Japanese Yen, trading up 0.1% to 76.62 Japanese Yen; the Japanese Finance Minister confirms that they remain ready to surreptitiously intervene again if the currency strengthens further. Data confirms that in early November the Japanese government spent approximately 1 trillion Japanese Yen to stealthily enter the currency market