The Euro traded markedly lower during Asian trading on Monday, the third day after in Paris left the country, and the world, reeling. The Euro fell 0.5 terror attacks coordinated percent against the dollar, hitting $1.0710, crashing nearly 7 percent from its peak of $1.1495 in mid-October. The Euro also retreated against the yen, falling to 130.645, its lowest since late April.
Though the market turbulence was likely to be a direct result of the terror attacks, the euro was already under pressure last week on the sentiment that the European Central Bank is likely to enhance its monetary easing policy. With France taking swift counter-measures against the Islamic State on Sunday night, there is a chance that renewed optimism may prevent the Euro from falling further (sign up for our daily newsletter to get the latest updates as things unfold).
Not all assets were down on Monday – crude benchmarks, which plummeted 8 percent last week, were up 28 cents today from their last close, to $41.02 per barrel, while Brent prices hit $44.79, a rise of 32 cents per barrel. The rising oil prices may be directly correlated to the airstrikes on ISIS, though many fundamental traders are clinging to their bearish sentiment.
Meanwhile, in Asia…
Data out of Japan today confirmed that the world's third largest economy has slumped into a technical recession, showing an economic contraction of 0.8 percent in the third quarter, and 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2015. Though this weak data wasn't much of a surprise, espeically in light of the weakening Chinese demand, Bank of Japan officials remain optimistic that increased spending in the current quarter will reverse the downtrend.