Thursday, 24 Mar 2011

EUR Rises on All Fronts

The euro rose against most of it major currency pairs on Thursday on optimism European policymakers will be able to control a political and debt crisis in Portugal, though technical resistance could cap near-term upside. The 17 nation currency is currently trading higher against the USD by nearly 100 pips at 1.4080. It is also trading higher against JPY and GBP.

The single currency had earlier hit a low of $1.4053 on EBS after Moody's downgraded 30 Spanish banks by one or more notches, though notably not the biggest players.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates resigned on Wednesday after parliament rejected his government's latest austerity measures aimed at avoiding EU financial assistance.

The euro zone has a few reports scheduled for tomorrow but most of the attention will be on the EU Economic Summit meeting. Depending on the statements being released from the meeting of European Union countries, it may be difficult to gauge the direction of the euro and traders should be aware of the heightened volatility in today's market.