The Euro plummeted across the board as its vulnerability increases amidst uncertainty over the Greek debt crisis. Greek Prime Minister will be reshuffling his government today in an effort to put through austerity measures imposed by the EU. To continue receiving bailout money, the government must introduce yet more reforms, even though they are harsh, such as tax increases, spending cuts and sell-offs of state property. Despite violent demonstrations by the people, Greece has no choice but to carry on with the austerity measures or face default. EURUSD opened Asia at 1.4179 and hovered around those lows to then plunge to 1.4112 before the end of the session
Sterling was affected by risk-off sentiment and was down against the Dollar. After reaching a three week low yesterday, Cable was briefly lifted by investors buying on dips, then its fell to previous lows again. Sterling is expected to remain weak after a spate of weak economic data provides evidence that the UK economy has slumped and interest rates will remain at record lows for now. GBPUSD reached lows of 1.6168.
USDJPY remained around the four-week high that was reached yesterday, trading between highs of 81.04 and lows of 80.82. The Japanese Yen was affected by concerns about global growth, especially the U.S. slowdown, as well as the debt concerns in Greece.
The Australian Dollar continued to slide against the US Dollar after stalling briefly. Even hawkish comments from the Reserve Bank of Australia on Wednesday provided little support for the Aussie dollar. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens mentioned that an increase in interest rates is still likely to be needed to restrain inflation. Gold lost ground against the greenback in the Asian session, dipping slightly. The Aussie is a commodity-linked currency and is affected by movements in gold prices. AUDUSD 1.0524 from the 1.0589 session high.
Gold slipped in Asian trading after the U.S. dollar jumped against other currencies. Gold is seen a safe haven investment and so will likely rebound to advance higher until a solution is reached over the Greek debt crisis. Gold fell from$1,530.68 to $1,524.58.
| EURUSD | USDJPY | GBPUSD | AUDUSD | EURJPY | GOLD | |
| OPEN
(22:00 GMT) |
1.4179 | 80.91 | 1.6194 | 1.0572 | 114.77 | 1530.68 |
| DAY’S HIGH | 1.4200 | 81.04 | 1.6223 | 1.0589 | 114.95 | 1530.90 |
| DAY’S LOW | 1.4112 | 80.82 | 1.6168 | 1.0524 | 114.30 | 1524.58 |
| CLOSE
(06:00 GMT) |
1.4125 | 80.96 | 1.6170 | 1.0530 | 114.38 | 1526.38 |
Note: Daylight Saving Time is in effect for GMT
