European Session – Euro higher as Portugal concerns ease
July 22, 2013 12:09 pm
Currency markets were quiet during Monday’s European session, with no key economic data releases today.
The Japanese yen was the main focus today, as it remains stronger after news of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decisive victory in elections for Japan’s parliament’s upper house.
The election win was already priced into markets, so it was the case of “buy the rumour – sell the fact”, as investors sold off USDJPY in the Asian session. The pair reached a low of 99.59 before steadying around 99.90 where it consolidated through to the European Session.
EURJPY also fell, touching lows of 131.12 before finding support at 131.60 yen in the European session.
The euro rose to the highest level in more than a week versus the dollar after Portugal’s President Anibal Cavaco Silva soothed investor concerns by keeping the government in place until 2015.
After an internal crisis threatened to break-up the coalition, the president’s decision not to call an election was welcomed by markets, helping buoy the euro.
EURUSD climbed to a session high of $1.3190 from the session open of $1.3152, extending gains from Friday.
However, there are concerns that only the immediate symptoms of crisis have been treated, but the cure for underlying condition remains, which could raise concerns again for the Euro zone debt crisis.
Sterling remains supported after last week’s minutes of the Bank of England’s July meeting showed that policymakers voted unanimously to keep the bank’s quantitative easing program unchanged.
GBPUSD edged higher from the session open of $1.5281 to $1.5340, the highest level so far this month.
The Australian dollar is hovering at Friday’s highs after rising due to news that China moved to scrap a regulation that had constrained bank lending. Since China is Australia’s major export market, this is positive for the aussie. AUDUSD is ranging between $0.9184 and $0.9233 so far today.
Currency markets were quiet during Monday’s European session, with no key economic data releases today.
The Japanese yen was the main focus today, as it remains stronger after news of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decisive victory in elections for Japan’s parliament’s upper house.
The election win was already priced into markets, so it was the case of “buy the rumour – sell the fact”, as investors sold off USDJPY in the Asian session. The pair reached a low of 99.59 before steadying around 99.90 where it consolidated through to the European Session.
EURJPY also fell, touching lows of 131.12 before finding support at 131.60 yen in the European session.
The euro rose to the highest level in more than a week versus the dollar after Portugal’s President Anibal Cavaco Silva soothed investor concerns by keeping the government in place until 2015.
After an internal crisis threatened to break-up the coalition, the president’s decision not to call an election was welcomed by markets, helping buoy the euro.
EURUSD climbed to a session high of $1.3190 from the session open of $1.3152, extending gains from Friday.
However, there are concerns that only the immediate symptoms of crisis have been treated, but the cure for underlying condition remains, which could raise concerns again for the Euro zone debt crisis.
Sterling remains supported after last week’s minutes of the Bank of England’s July meeting showed that policymakers voted unanimously to keep the bank’s quantitative easing program unchanged.
GBPUSD edged higher from the session open of $1.5281 to $1.5340, the highest level so far this month.
The Australian dollar is hovering at Friday’s highs after rising due to news that China moved to scrap a regulation that had constrained bank lending. Since China is Australia’s major export market, this is positive for the aussie.
AUDUSD is ranging between $0.9184 and $0.9233 so far today.
Related Posts: