In Asian trading, the U.S. Dollar extended earlier gains as its appeal as a safe haven status increased as investors’ concerns over the Eurozone crisis and a global slowdown weighed heavily on risk appetite.
As reported at 10:23 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar Index, which is viewed by traders as a gauge of the greenback’s strength, was trading at 82.361 .DXY, not far from the 82.469 peak set on Friday; last week the Index gained 1%. The greenback was also higher against the Euro and the Japanese Yen; the EUR/USD was trading at $1.2536, a drop of 0.3% from late trade in New York on Friday; against the Japanese Yen the USD/JPY pair was trading at 80.63 Yen before retreating to 88.34 Yen as profit taking ensued.
Market players are likely to keep trading Euro tightly within ranges as the E.U. finance ministers meeting gets under way; the E.U. leaders will concentrate on a resolution for the Eurozone’s problems, including among other things the possible renegotiation of some of the original bailout terms for Greece. Most analysts agree that there is great potential for disappointment from the E.U. summit meeting, and suggest that currency traders not become too bullish.