Euro slightly higher in Asian trade
Friday, 30 April 2010
SINGAPORE, April 29 (AFP): The euro edged slightly higher in Asian trade today, but a credit rating downgrade of Spain amid Europe's debt crisis weighed on sentiment for the currency, dealers said.
The euro clawed up from one-year lows against the greenback to trade at 1.321 dollars in the afternoon, compared with 1.3201 in New York late on Wednesday.
The euro also bought 124.1278 Japanese yen compared to 122.95 yen the day before.
Japanese financial markets were closed Thursday for a holiday.
"I think it's a relief rally, given some talk last night on... funds for Greece," said Thio Chin Loo, senior currency analyst of BNP Paribas in Singapore.
The euro gained some respite late Wednesday as Germany signalled that it was more willing to bail out Greece, with Chancellor Angela Merkel saying that rescue talks with the EU and International Monetary Fund must be "accelerated".
But euro gains were constrained by fears of the Greek crisis spreading, Thio said.
Standard and Poor's cut Spain's long-term debt rating by one notch Wednesday, a day after it sent shockwaves through the markets by relegating Greek bonds to junk status and downgrading Portugal by two notches.
Thio warned that the euro's woes were not over yet.
"Euro-dollar is getting hammered... we're quite prepared for poor euro performance," she said.
"With the situation deteriorating quickly, there is no longer complacency that the Greece problem would not spread to other larger EU nations, and eventually affect areas outside of eurozone," Singapore's DBS Bank said.
"At this stage of the game, the market is unlikely to accept anything less than unequivocal cooperation... in providing aid to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt for the next three years," it added.
"Every day lost is a day closer to tipping eurozone and the euro towards instability."
The US dollar was at 93.965 to the Japanese yen in Asian trade Thursday from 94.05 yen a day before.
Against other Asian currencies, the dollar climbed to 31.4310 Taiwan dollars from 31.37 the previous day, to 9,027.50 Indonesian rupiah from 9,022, to 32.3250 Thai baht from 32.30 and to 44.6180 Philippine pesos from 44.60.
The greenback fell to 1,114.85 South Korean won from 1,118.80 and to 1.3728 Singapore dollars from 1.3735.
The euro clawed up from one-year lows against the greenback to trade at 1.321 dollars in the afternoon, compared with 1.3201 in New York late on Wednesday.
The euro also bought 124.1278 Japanese yen compared to 122.95 yen the day before.
Japanese financial markets were closed Thursday for a holiday.
"I think it's a relief rally, given some talk last night on... funds for Greece," said Thio Chin Loo, senior currency analyst of BNP Paribas in Singapore.
The euro gained some respite late Wednesday as Germany signalled that it was more willing to bail out Greece, with Chancellor Angela Merkel saying that rescue talks with the EU and International Monetary Fund must be "accelerated".
But euro gains were constrained by fears of the Greek crisis spreading, Thio said.
Standard and Poor's cut Spain's long-term debt rating by one notch Wednesday, a day after it sent shockwaves through the markets by relegating Greek bonds to junk status and downgrading Portugal by two notches.
Thio warned that the euro's woes were not over yet.
"Euro-dollar is getting hammered... we're quite prepared for poor euro performance," she said.
"With the situation deteriorating quickly, there is no longer complacency that the Greece problem would not spread to other larger EU nations, and eventually affect areas outside of eurozone," Singapore's DBS Bank said.
"At this stage of the game, the market is unlikely to accept anything less than unequivocal cooperation... in providing aid to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt for the next three years," it added.
"Every day lost is a day closer to tipping eurozone and the euro towards instability."
The US dollar was at 93.965 to the Japanese yen in Asian trade Thursday from 94.05 yen a day before.
Against other Asian currencies, the dollar climbed to 31.4310 Taiwan dollars from 31.37 the previous day, to 9,027.50 Indonesian rupiah from 9,022, to 32.3250 Thai baht from 32.30 and to 44.6180 Philippine pesos from 44.60.
The greenback fell to 1,114.85 South Korean won from 1,118.80 and to 1.3728 Singapore dollars from 1.3735.